6 sentenced in foiled U.K. terror plot

LONDON -- Six men from Birmingham in central England received lengthy jail sentences yesterday for plotting to bomb a right-wing rally last June.

Authorities said the plot by the men, who appeared motivated by Islamic extremism, failed only because they arrived too late and the rally by the English Defense League already had dispersed.

Judge Nicholas Hilliard of London's Central Criminal Court sentenced three of the men -- Omar Khan, 31; Jewel Uddin, 27; and Zohaib Ahmed, 22 -- to a minimum of 191/2 years for preparing acts of terrorism. The other three -- Mohammed Saud, 23; Anzal Hussain, 25; and Mohammed Hasseen, 23 -- received sentences of 18 years and nine months.

In all six cases, the judge reserved the right to later add an additional 5 years to the sentences.

The six were apprehended as the result of a chance encounter with traffic police checking on their expired car insurance as they returned to Birmingham from the northern town of Dewsbury, where the rally had been held. Inside the car, police found homemade nail bombs, a half-finished pipe bomb as well as shotguns, machetes and knives.

The car also contained extremist Islamic literature.

In summing up, Hilliard told the defendants: "You anticipated that some victims may have died. That must follow from the nature of the dreadful collection of material with which you were armed."