Kamel Bourgass, the Algerian man convicted in June 2004 of murdering a British police officer has now been convicted of plotting a terrorist attack by using the deadly poison ricin. The conviction was entered last Friday.

According to British officials, Bourgass has ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network. Prosecutors found evidence in Bourgass's north London flat of recipes for poisons that were identical to those distributed by al-Qaeda operatives in the Middle East. They also found instructions written by Bourgass on how to make a bomb and an effective detonator.

Ricin is a very deadly poison that is considered 6,000 times more deadly than cyanide. Castor oil beans, a raw material in making ricin, were also found by authorities in Bourgass's apartment.

Bourgass was sentenced to life in prison for the attempt to spread deadly toxins.

British authorities dropped charges against many of Bourgass's alleged codefendants, however due to a lack of proof of a major plot.

The 31-year-old Bourgass is a native of Algeria and may have received training at an al-Qaeda base in Afghanistan.