A BRITISH COURT HAS CONVICTED a former British Airways security analyst of plotting with US-born extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to blow up an airplane.

Rajib Karim, 31, was convicted on four counts of engaging in preparation for terrorist attacks.

He had previously pleaded guilty to five other terrorism offences, but denied planning an attack in Britain.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Colin Gibbs said Karim intended to use his position at BA to kill “hundreds of innocent people”:

The most chilling element of this case is probably the fact that Karim tried to enroll as cabin crew and anyone can imagine how horrific the consequences of this could have been, had he succeeded.

Prosecutors said al-Awlaki had questioned Karim about air security flaws and urged him to take a cabin crew position, although his application was rejected because he had not served the required minimum time with the airline.

Al-Awlaki is believed to have masterminded a bombing campaign in October 2010, in which mail bombs were shipped from Yemen and discovered on cargo planes bound for the US.

Karim was arrested at his BA desk in Newcastle in 2010. He will be sentenced on 18 March.

Reporting from the Associated Press.