Four men who launched failed suicide attacks on London's transport network just two weeks after the 7/7 attacks will have to serve at least 40 years in jail after a judge decided that the two plots were linked and under the control of al-Qaeda.

Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Hussain Osman - all refugees from war-torn African nations who became radicalised Muslims after settling in Britain - were sentenced to life at Woolwich Crown Court today for their bungled attacks on July 21. 2005.

Earlier, the court heard that two men accused of being part of the same 21/7 plot would face a retrial after a jury had failed to return verdicts in their cases. Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 34, of no fixed address, and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, North London, both deny conspiracy to murder.

After the four would-be bombers were convicted on Monday, the judge, Mr Justice Fulford, QC, warned them that links and comparisons between their plot and 7/7 attacks, in which 52 innocent people were killed, could add to their sentences.

Ibrahim, the ringleader, trained for jihad in Sudan in 2003 and was in Pakistan at the same time as the July 7 bombers Mohammed Siddique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer. The same hydrogen peroxide-based explosive, which had never been seen before on British soil, was used by both terror cells.

Ibrahim, 29, of Stoke Newington, North London; Omar, 26, of New Southgate, North London - who dreamt up the plot - Mohammed, 25, of North Kensington, West London and Osman, 28, of no fixed address, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder on Monday after a six month trial.

After passing sentence, Mr Justice Fulford said: "What happened on July 7 in 2005 is of considerable relevance to this sentencing. I have no doubt that they were both part of an al-Qaeda-inspired and controlled sequence of attacks.

"This was a viable, indeed a very nearly successful, attempt at mass murder. It was long in the planning and came soon after July 7 - it was designed for maximum impact.

He went on: "Though the prosecution during this trial have not attempted to demonstrate a direct link between the carnage of July 7 and the joint crime of these four defendants, which was nearly a carbon copy of that event exactly two weeks later, nonetheless, what happened on July 7 2005 is of considerable relevance.

"It demonstrates the lethal effect of this plan had it succeeded. It is clear that at least 50 people would have died, hundreds of people would have been wounded, thousands would have had their lives permanently damaged, disfigured or otherwise, whether they were Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, agnostic or atheist."

"The family and friends of the dead and the injured, the hundreds, indeed thousands, captured underground in terrifying circumstances - the smoke, the screams of the wounded and the dying - this each defendant knew. They planned this, they prepared for it. They had spent many hours making viable bombs. After 7/7 each defendant knew exactly what the result would be.

"Having heard the scientific evidence, I consider that this plan came very close to succeeding. If the detonators had been slightly more powerful or the hydrogen peroxide slightly more concentrated, then each bomb would have exploded."

As Judge Fulford passed sentence, the defendants barely registered the enormous sentences handed out. Ibrahim shook his head slightly, Omar - wearing white Muslim dress - stared at the judge, Osman clutched his Koran, and Mohammed was the only one who struggled to compose himself.

Outsidce the court, Susan Hemming, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's counter-terrorism division, read out a statement. "Exactly two weeks after the terrorist attacks on 7/7 these men targeted the same transport system and tried to cause the same level of death and destruction. They knew what would happen; they had seen the devastation produced by 7/7 and the fact that they continued with their plan shows their brutal intent."

She added: "Over many months they designed and built their own bombs. They could have been in no doubt as to the consequences of their actions. While the implementation of their plan was incompetent, their aim was clear. They wanted to kill and maim on a massive scale."

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