Three British Men Convicted in Terrorist Bomb Plot

Prosecutors said plan was bigger attack than 2005 transit explosions

Three young British Muslims were convicted Thursday of plotting terrorist bombings that prosecutors said were intended to be bigger than the 2005 London transit attacks.

A London jury found Irfan Naseer, 31, and Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali, both 27, guilty of being central figures in the foiled plot to explode knapsack bombs in crowded areas — attacks potentially deadlier than the July 7, 2005 explosions on subway trains and a bus which killed 52 commuters.

Judge Richard Henriques told the men — who had been arrested in September 2011 — they will all face life in prison when sentences are imposed in April or May for plotting a major terrorist attack in Birmingham, a city of roughly 1 million people located 120 miles (nearly 200 kilometers) northwest of London.