It was interesting to watch prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw as he opened his case against Bilal Abdulla and Mohammed Asha.

Armed police at Glasgow Airport in 2007.

After one full day of proceedings, Mr. Laidlaw is about halfway through his 87 pages of opening arguments and he is treading through them slowly, methodically and carefully. But it is the timing and tone with which he chooses to remind the jurors that the defendants are doctors, that is noteworthy.

Prosecutors are laying out a car bomb plot that they say came with no warning, no intelligence tips and is clearly without precedent.

Abdulla and Mohammed are accused of conspiracy to murder and cause explosions. Both are medical doctors, the very people entrusted to heal were instead were, in the words of the prosecution, intent on “committing wholesale and indiscriminate murder.”

Going back to the summer of 2007, when two car bombs failed to detonate in central London, prosecutors told the jury that if they’d worked, it would have triggered a series of deadly car bombings right across the country.

Laidlaw claimed: “The terrorists knew the public would be gripped by fear: they would not know where the terrorists would strike next.”

But the car bombs failed and prosecutors say when that happened, the bombers opted for a suicide mission knowing it wouldn’t be long before police were on their trail. The next day, two men rammed a fire bomb on four wheels into the airport terminal building in Glasgow,  Scotland. Prosecutors say Indian engineering student Kafeel Ahmed was at the wheel and would later die of his injuries.

But the prosecution points out Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla was arrested right by the flaming vehicle. Laidlaw then asked “So what is his defence?”

But Jordanian Mohammed Asha, a surgeon, husband and father was not at the scene. The case against him, the prosecution says, is much different. The jury was told he was an important source of material
support and inspiration to his accomplices.

Investigators mined internet and cell site data from mobile phones and prosecutors say there were dozens of phone, text and computer messages implicating Asha.

“It was as if Abdulla was reporting back, at the most notable points during the plot, taking instructions from or seeking the approval of Dr. Asha” said Laidlaw.

From the start, the prosecution wanted to suggest a motive to the jury. This was, they allege, a tight terrorist cell with no core Al Qaeda influence beyond inspiration. So why would did they do it? The prosecution claims not just to seize international attention but to vengefully punish innocent civilians for the perceived persecution of Muslims, especially in Palestine and Iraq. The trial is expected to last about three months. Watch this space, I’ll have updates.