World News joined 6

[OMEN]

A HIGH-level al-Qaeda associate has been sentenced by a New York court to life in prison for plotting to bomb US embassies in Manila and Singapore, in a case shrouded in secrecy since his arrest in 2002.
Mohammed Mansour Jabarah pleaded guilty six years ago to conspiracy to kill US citizens in plots against the two embassies. Prosecutors had requested Jabarah, a Canadian citizen of Iraqi descent, be handed down a life sentence.

The sentence was due to "the nature of your participation in two conspiracies at the very highest level,'' federal judge Barbara Jones said.

According to US agents, Jabarah met Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and was sent by Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks, to meet Jemaah Islamiyah figures in Southeast Asia to plan the bombings.

Jemaah Islamiyah was blamed for the 2002 bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, which killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists.

According to a sentencing memorandum produced by US prosecutors, Jabarah secretly plotted to kill US agents with whom he was supposedly cooperating after his arrest in Oman in 2002.

Jabarah pleaded guilty in July of that year after being brought to the United States and initially cooperating with federal investigators.

But according to the sentencing memorandum, Jabarah was "secretly planning to exploit the perception of cooperation that he created.

"Weapons and papers seized from Jabarah during an impromptu search of his quarters left little doubt that Jabarah was bent on carrying out a martyrdom mission to murder the 'infidel' agents and prosecutors whom he considered responsible for his capture,'' the memorandum said.

Documents drafted by Jabarah while in jail "demonstrated his commitment to waging jihad against the infidels, killing his captors, and presumably himself,'' it said.

Agence France-Presse

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for this.