NYC subway bomb plotter sentenced to 30 years

A Pakistani immigrant was sentenced on yesterday to 30 years in prison for plotting to blow up the Herald Square subway station, beneath Macy's department store, to avenge U.S. abuses of Iraqis.

Shahawar Matin Siraj, 24, was arrested in August 2004, on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Though prosecutors did not link him to any terrorist organization and there is no evidence he ever obtained the materials to carry out his intentions, his intentions were apparently deemed ominous enough to convince U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon that he was indeed, as prosecutors argued, the "driving force" of a "workable terrorist plot" and cause her to sentence him to 30 years though defense attorneys had argued that their client was merely "a confused and misguided youngster" who should not be sentenced to a prison term longer than 10 years.

A key witness for the prosecution was a police informant, Osama Eldawoody, 50, who got Siraj to admit he was "ready to do anything" after hearing that U.S. soldiers were sexually abusing Iraqi girls, "I don't care about my life" he can be heard saying on the tape recording Eldawoody had secretly made of their conversation inside the bookstore of a local mosque.

Eldawoody, who made Siraj believe he was a co-conspirator, told Siraj that any plan he came up with would be backed by a fictitious organization called "The Brotherhood." Siraj also considered blowing up NY bridges or killing Microsoft founder Bill Gates as other targets.

Testifying in his own defense, Siraj admitted that he had indeed taken steps to carry out his intentions, but only because he was being egged on by Eldawoody. Prior to coming under the influence of the older man, Siraj claimed he had never entertained thoughts of violence.