[JURIST] A British judge sentenced four men convicted of conspiracy to murder [JURIST report] for the failed bomb attacks on London's subway and bus systems [JURIST news archive] on July 21, 2005 to life in prison Wednesday, saying that Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed, and Hussain Osman must serve at least 40 years before they are eligible for parole. Also on Wednesday, Crown prosecutors formally indicated they will seek to retry co-defendants Manfo Kwaku Asiedu and Adel Yahya, whose first trial ended earlier this week after the jury became deadlocked during deliberations [JURIST report].

The defendants had argued that the bombs, which the four attempted to detonate just two weeks after a similar attack that killed 52 people [JURIST news archive], were not real and were merely intended as a protest against the Iraq war. AP has more.