LONDON, (Reuters) – Three Britons were convicted yesterday of plotting to murder hundreds of people in suicide  bombings after being recruited by an al Qaeda-inspired cell bent  on blowing up transatlantic airliners bound for North America.

The three men, who recorded martyrdom videos threatening  waves of attacks against Britain and the United States, worked  with the gang that planned to bring down planes with home-made  liquid bombs.

Their conviction follows one of Britain’s biggest  counter-terrorism investigations and a series of trials around a  plot that prosecutors said could have been on the same scale as  the 9/11 attacks.

Twelve people have now been convicted in connection with the  plot that led to extra security checks at airports worldwide and  tight restrictions on passengers carrying liquids onto planes.

The three convicted yesterday had faced two previous  trials in 2008 and 2009. A jury at their first trial failed to  agree a verdict. They were acquitted at the second trial of  knowing that the plot was targeting planes.