Four radical men have admitted an al-Qaeda-inspired plot to detonate a bomb at the London Stock Exchange.
The Muslim fundamentalists' group wanted to send five mail bombs to various targets during the run up to Christmas 2010, discussed launching a 'Mumbai-style' atrocity.

A hand-written target list found at one of the defendant's homes listed the names and addresses of London Mayor Boris Johnson, two rabbis, the American Embassy and the London Stock Exchange.

The total of nine men admitted various terror crimes at Woolwich Crown Court and will be sentenced next week.

Lynchpin Mohammed Chowdhury and his London accomplice Shah Rahman were followed by undercover detectives observing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster.

The conspiracy involved nine defendantsu00a0-- the London duo, three from Cardiff and four from Stokeu00a0-- but was stopped by undercover anti-terror police before firm dates could be set for attacks.

They possessed the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, which contained a feature: 'Make A Bomb In The Kitchen Of Your Mom.'

Their agenda is said to have included launching a Mumbai-style attack that would mimic the 2008 atrocity in India that saw terrorists arrive at the port by boat and slaughter 166 people.

The nine were not members of al-Qaeda but were inspired by the terror network and its former Yemeni boss, American-born Anwar al-Awlaqi, who was killed last year in a drone strike.

The nine defendants 'were implementing the published strategy of AQAP', said Andrew Edis QC, for the prosecution.