Terror trial of British doctors under way

LONDON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- In the terror trial of two British doctors, prosecutors said the pair plotted terror attacks to punish Britain for its policies in the Middle East.

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw alleged Bilal Abdulla, 29, and Mohammed Asha, 27, plotted the bombings as "punishment" for Britain's foreign policy in Iraq and Israel, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The men said they are innocent of charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.

The prosecution alleges Abdulla and a third man, Kafeel Ahmed, tried and failed to detonate cars packed with gas canisters and nails outside a London nightclub and then rammed an explosives-laden Jeep into Glasgow Airport in Scotland in June 2007. Asha allegedly was the money man and provided advice.

"By the carrying out of a series of explosions," Laidlaw said, "the terrorists knew the public would be gripped by fear."

Laidlaw said the attacks failed through sheer "good fortune" because the efforts to detonate the vehicles failed.

"Apart from the shocking nature of the activity these two defendants were engaged in, the extraordinary thing is that both men are doctors," he said. "They turned their attention away from the treating of illness to the planning of murder."