- A US court has sentenced a lorry driver to 20 years in
jail for supporting al-Qaida and seeking to sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge.
-
- Iyman Faris, an Ohio lorry driver, had initially admitted
to surveying the bridge for exploring ways to destroy it, but subsequently
tried to withdraw his guilty plea.
-
- US District Judge Leonie Brinkema gave the maximum term
after rejecting a request by Faris to withdraw the guilty plea. She said
he knowingly pleaded guilty and that his credibility was "in serious
question".
-
- Faris, a naturalised US citizen, pleaded guilty on 1
May to one count of providing material support to al-Qaida and another
count of conspiracy to provide material support to the banned group.
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- Born in Kashmir, Faris, 34, came to the US in 1994. He
became a US citizen five years later.
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- He did not show much emotion as the judge sentenced him.
-
- "I am innocent of this charge," Faris told
the judge in brief remarks. "I don't have any connection to al-Qaida
except that a friend was a member of the group," he said.
-
- His lawyer said the story about the Brooklyn Bridge was
not true and Faris had only wanted to fool the FBI investigators so that
he could "write a book".
-
- US Justice Department officials said Faris met Usama
bin Ladin at a training camp in Afghanistan several years ago and that
he checked out the Brooklyn Bridge to determine whether it could be destroyed.
-
- They also claimed that a top al-Qaida member, Khalid
Shaikh Muhammad, had spoken to Faris in Pakistan last year about destroying
the bridge.
-
-
- Comment
- Kingsley James
- 10-29-3
-
- Remember how the US quickly released those two Israelis
in the rental truck...
- the one with explosives residues found on the steering
wheel and gearshift handle?
- No charges, nothing. But this Moslem taxi drivers get
20 years. What's
- wrong with this picture?
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