Details emerged from a British court today about the Islamic terror plot to blow up at least 7 jetliners simultaneously over the Atlantic, for which eight British Muslims were arrested in August 2006: British Muslims ‘planned to kill thousands by bombing SEVEN transatlantic airliners in one go’.

They are: Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar, Tanvir Hussain, and Ibrahim Savant — all aged 27; Mohammed Gulzar and Arafat Waheed Khan, 26; Waheed Zaman, 23, and Umar Islam, also known as Brian Young, 29.

Mr Wright named the ringleaders as Ali, Sarwar and Gulzar and said Ali was one of those prepared to blow themselves up on a jet. However, during conversations monitored by police the conspirators talked about as many as 18 suicide bombers at different airport terminals.

“At the very least” seven planes would have been targeted, Mr Wright said.

The jury heard that the gang planned to smuggle components of the homemade bombs on to the flights as “innocuous hand luggage”.

The court heard the bombers intended to use hydrogen peroxide and mix it with a product called Tang, used in soft drinks, to turn it into an explosive. They intended to carry it on board disguised as 500ml bottles of Oasis or Lucozade by using food dye to recreate the drinks’ distinctive colour.

The detonator would have been disguised as AA 1.5 batteries. The contents of the batteries would have been removed and an electric element such as a lightbulb or wiring would have been inserted. A disposable camera would have provided a power source. “These items would have the capability of being detonated with devastating consequences,” said Mr Wright.

An address book found in Ali’s pocket had a “to-do list with items such as electrics for batteries, drink bottles including Lucozade and Oasis; an entry saying ”check time to fill each bottle“.

All the seven flights allegedly targeted could carry between 241 and 285 passengers. They were to cities including Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington, JFK in New York and Montreal. The gang compiled information on flights and a USB memory stick found in the pocket of one defendant included details of flights from Heathrow to the US, Mr Wright said. But he said the gang only examined details of outward-bound flights — they were not interested in return trips.

The seven flights would all have been in the air at the same time, he added: ”The flights were particularly vulnerable to a co-ordinated attack while in flight. If each was blown up the potential for loss of life was considerable and there was little of no chance of saving any of them from their impending disaster.”