UK charges 13th suspect in airline bomb probe

LONDON - A young British Muslim arrested during an investigation into an alleged plot to blow up US-bound airliners was charged with conspiracy to murder, police said today.

Nabeel Hussain, 22, is the 13th person charged in connection with the plot and the ninth to face the most serious charges of conspiracy to murder and planning acts of terrorism.

Like the other eight suspects, he was accused of plotting to smuggle parts of home-made bombs on to planes, then build the bombs and detonate them.

Hussain, from east London, is due to appear at a magistrates' court in central London on Wednesday morning.

All of those arrested are British Muslims and most are of Pakistani origin.

Seven people remain in custody who have not so far been charged. Detectives have until Wednesday evening to decide whether to charge them.

According to news reports, Nabeel Hussain is the brother of Umair Hussain and Mehran Hussain, both charged with failing to disclose information that could have prevented a terrorist attack.

British police announced on August 10 they had thwarted a plot to blow up several US-bound airliners over the Atlantic by smuggling liquid explosives on to flights.

The alleged plot came to light 13 months after four British Islamist suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 other people at rush hour on public transport in London.

Police said last week they had seized "martyrdom videos", an apparent reference to testaments by would-be suicide bombers, as part of a huge probe into the suspected plot that included scores of searches of houses, cars and open spaces.

Pakistani authorities have arrested several people, including two Britons, in connection with the plot.

The British government raised the threat level to "critical" - the highest rating - and imposed tight restrictions on carry-on baggage by airline passengers for several days after August 10, causing chaos at airports at the height of the summer holidays.

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, writing in The Washington Post on Tuesday, said the United States needed broader access to information from Europe on passengers boarding flights to US destinations.

- REUTERS