Prosecutors seek retrial in liquid-bomb plot trial

British prosecutors are seeking a retrial of seven of the men accused in a purported plot to down airliners using liquid explosives.

After a months-long trial, a London, England, jury failed to convict eight men in the alleged plot to bomb airplanes leaving Heathrow Airport for North American cities, including Toronto and Montreal.

Prosecutors said the group planned to smuggle liquid explosives aboard the planes as soft drinks and then detonate them mid-flight.

In last Monday's verdict, jurors convicted three defendants of conspiring to murder using homemade liquid explosive bombs, but the charges did not relate specifically to airliners.

The jury could not reach verdicts against four men. The eighth man was acquitted.

Formal application required

Britain's director of public prosecutions, Ken Macdonald, said Wednesday that the seven men will face new charges specifically related to an accusation they planned to explode bombs on board airliners.

"I have today concluded that the prosecution should apply to retry each of these defendants on every count that the recently discharged jury failed to agree upon," he said in a statement.

"This will include a count that each defendant conspired to detonate improvised explosive devices on transatlantic passenger aircraft," Macdonald said.

Prosecutors must now make a formal application to the courts before any date for a new trial is set.

When the alleged plot came to light in the summer of 2006, airliners introduced regulations restricting the quantity of liquids passengers could bring in their carry-on luggage.