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UK Bomb Plot Could Have Been As Deadly As 7/7

Pakistani student Abid Naseer was plotting a "devastating" bomb attack in Manchester comparable to the 7/7 attacks in London, according to police.

Greater Manchester Police's chief investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Mark Smith, told Sky News it was "as big a plot as we've seen in the UK".

"The scale of the intended attack, the number of casualties that I think we would have seen in Manchester, would have been comparable to the 7/7 attack," he said.

Det Supt Smith said emails Naseer sent from a Manchester internet cafe to a suspected al Qaeda handler in Pakistan about an impending wedding were actually coded details for the attack.

His comments came as 28-year-old Naseer was convicted in New York of involvement in a conspiracy to launch militant attacks on the city's subway system.

But despite police claims, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintained police in the UK had insufficient evidence to prosecute Naseer when he was arrested with 11 other suspects in 2009 and he was released without charge.

Naseer maintains his innocence and during his US trial he drew attention to the fact police found no explosives or weapons at his home in the UK.

During his US trial prosecutor Celia Cohen showed the court images of Naseer taken in Manchester with his alleged co-conspirators which she claimed had been made to look like tourist photographs.

But they were actually reconnaissance pictures for an attack designed to "replicate the devastation of 9/11" she said, adding the suspects had been visiting targets to calculate where their attacks might do the most damage.

Ms Cohen told the court the men had selected the Arndale shopping centre to target as it had many glass fronted shops which would maximise casualties in an explosion.

Naseer's conviction means questions remain over why he was not charged in the UK and a row has developed between the CPS and British police, who claim the decision not to prosecute him put lives at risk.

Police and Crime commissioner Tony Lloyd said: "Had the Americans not reacted, a dangerous man, who was intent on causing death and destruction in Greater Manchester, could potentially be walking our streets."

The CPS point to the fact police provided no evidence Naseer had purchased explosives or that he had received any terrorism training in the UK or abroad. As such there was slim chance of a successful prosecution, it said.

Naseer has yet to be sentenced and has announced he will appeal against his conviction.