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Defiant shoe-bomber jailed for life
31/01/2003 08:23 - (SA)
Greg Frost
Boston - Richard Reid, a British-born follower of Osama bin Laden, was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives stuffed in his shoes.
A defiant Reid, who pleaded guilty in October to all charges stemming from his failed attempt in December 2001, told Chief US District Judge William Young that he was a soldier "at war" with the United States because it sponsored the "rape and torture" of Muslims.
"You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature," Young told Reid.
The Briton gestured menacingly and shouted at Young after the judge handed him the maximum jail sentence, fined him $2 million and issued a stern rebuke of his actions.
"Stand him down," Young ordered federal marshals as they dragged the towering shoe-bomber from the courtroom.
Pointing at Young and the American flag hanging in the courtroom, Reid replied: "That flag will be brought down on the day of judgment and you will see in front of your Lord and my Lord and then we will know."
The exchange capped a tense sentencing hearing during which three crew members from American Airlines Flight told of the psychological scars they still bear from Reid's bid to bring down their aircraft as it flew from Paris to Miami on December 22, 2001.
Passengers and crew overpowered the British citizen as he tried to ignite explosives in his athletic shoes. He was tied up with belts and headphone cords, and the plane landed in Boston under escort from fighter jets.
The near-disaster occurred at a time of heightened security and anxiety about air travel in the United States and throughout the world after the hijacked airliner attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
'Mission of evil'
Carole Nelson, one of three Flight 63 crew members allowed to speak at the hearing, said she still sees in her mind the panicked looks in the eyes of the 20 or so children on board the flight after Reid tried to ignite bombs in his shoes.
"Richard Reid was on a mission of evil, a mission of destruction and a mission of murder," Nelson told the court, saying Reid should spend the rest of his life in prison.
US government officials welcomed the sentence dealt to Reid.
"The sentence imposed on Richard Reid says to the world that terrorists cannot escape American justice," US Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement. "We will hunt them down, stop them and we will put them away."
Young rejected a last-ditch attempt by the defence to delay Reid's sentencing on the grounds they needed access to classified government information that could potentially prove his innocence.
The judge also refused to accept the argument by Reid's lawyer, Owen Walker, that the 29-year-old Briton was a "soldier" in a religious war and that he bore no "malice or hate" toward any individuals.
Assistant US Attorney Gerard Leone had asked Young to put Reid away for life, ensuring he "never again endangers American lives and American interests." Capital punishment was not an option because none of the eight charges to which he pleaded guilty carried the death penalty.
The 1-1/2-hour sentencing hearing took place under tight security. US Coast Guard vessels patrolled the waters abutting Boston's federal courthouse, while armed federal agents and sniffer-dogs kept watch in and around the building.
When Reid pleaded guilty before Young last year, he left few doubts as to his allegiance.
"I pledge to Osama bin Laden," Reid told Young, referring to the Islamic militant blamed for masterminding the September 11 attacks. "I'm an enemy of your country."
Reid will most likely serve out his sentence at the Federal Correction Center in Florence, Colorado, prosecutors said.
Reid, who received al-Qaeda training, pleaded guilty to all charges against him after Young dealt his defence attorneys a series of legal setbacks.
- Reuters
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