LONDON -- In a case that altered airport security worldwide, three British Muslims were imprisoned Monday for at least 30 years each for a plot to kill thousands by blowing up trans-Atlantic airliners with liquid explosives hidden in soda bottles.

The judge described the foiled suicide bombings -- meant to rival the Sept. 11 attacks -- as ``a grave and wicked'' conspiracy, likely the most serious terrorist case ever dealt with by a British court. The plot's disclosure prompted an immediate ban on taking some liquids onboard passenger jets, a measure that remains in place.

Abdulla Ahmed Ali -- the plot's ringleader -- was given a minimum of 40 years in prison, one of the longest sentences ever handed out by a British court. Assad Sarwar, 29, and Tanvir Hussain, 28, were imprisoned for a minimum of 36 years and 32 years respectively at London's high security Woolwich Crown Court.

``The intention was to perpetrate a terrorist outrage that would stand alongside the events of Sept. 11, 2001,'' Judge Richard Henriques said, referring to attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Henriques said the three men were the key figures in a plan to assemble and detonate liquid explosive bombs on aircraft bound for the United States and Canada in 2006.

Authorities estimate that, if successful, about 2,000 passengers would have died -- and if the bombs had been detonated over U.S. and Canadian cities, hundreds more would have been killed on the ground. Prosecutors said the suspects had targeted seven flights from London's Heathrow airport to New York, Washington, San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal and two to Chicago.

British and U.S. security officials said the plan was directly linked to al Qaeda and guided by Islamic militants in Pakistan, who sent instructions to the group via coded e-mail messages.

A fourth man, Umar Islam, 31, found guilty of conspiracy to murder in the plot, was jailed Monday for a minimum of 22 years. Jurors were unable to decide whether he knew the eventual plot would target aircraft.

Ali's 40-year minimum sentence is among the highest jail terms ever meted out in Britain.

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