Tight security as suspects accused of airline bomb plot appear in court

For the first time yesterday, those accused of plotting what would have been one of the worst acts of terrorism in British history appeared in public.

In a court packed with an army of lawyers and journalists as well as family members, the defendants appeared before senior district judge Timothy Workman.

Clad in white T-shirts and light trousers, flanked by security guards, they heard the charges against them.

The eight young bearded men accused of trying to bring down transatlantic airliners reacted differently to the glare of the spotlight as they sat in the glass and pale wood dock.

Some staredimpassively ahead, while others appeared more relaxed, smiling and occasionally waving at friends and relatives.

Alongside them, three others, including a 17-year-old boy and the mother of an eight-month-old baby son, were accused of crimes relating to the alleged plot.

Except to confirm their names and ages, they said little as Susan Hemming, head of the Counter Terrorism Division of the Crown Prosecution Service, read out the charges. The eight were Ahmed Abdullah Ali, 25, Arafat Waheed Khan, 25, Adam Khatib, 19, Ibrahim Savant, 25, and Waheed Zaman, 22, all of Walthamstow in east London; Umar Islam, 28, and Assad Ali Sarwar, 26, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and Tanvir Hussain of no fixed address.

Ms Hemming said the alleged plot was to "manufacture and smuggle the component parts of improvised explosive devices on to aircraft and assemble and detonate them on board".

All eight men were charged with conspiracy to murder between 1 January 2006 and 10 August 2006, under the Criminal Law Act 1977.

They were also charged with a new offence of conspiring to commit terrorism under the 2006 Terrorism Act. They all deny the charges.

All eight were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing on 4 September. No bail applications were made.

Wearing a blue hijab, Cossar Ali, 23, of Walthamstow, also appeared in the dock accused of "having information which she knew or believed might be of material assistance in preventing the commission of another person, namely [her husband] Ahmed Abdullah Ali, aka Abdullah Ali Ahmed Khan, of an act of terrorism and failure to disclose it as soon as reasonably practicable".

She was denied bail and remanded in custody until 29 August.

A 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also appeared in court. The judge heard that he was accused between 1 October 2005 and 10 August 2006, of having in his possession a book on improvised explosive devices, suicide notes and wills with the identities of the persons prepared to commit acts of terrorism, and a map of Afghanistan containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. His case was adjourned until 29 August.

The 11th person charged is Mehran Hussain, 23, who was also charged with failure to disclose information about the alleged plot. He was remanded in custody until 29 August. Lawyers succeeded in having the defendants' addresses withheld for fear their families would suffer intimidation.

Yesterday, as the accused left City of Westminster magistrates' court in vans, 11 others remained in police custody. The two-hour hearing yesterday was told that the investigation, one of the largest in British criminal history, was still in its early stages.

On Monday, deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke, said: "The scale is immense. Inquiries will span the globe."