Pakistani given 30 years in New York al Qaeda case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pakistani convicted of supporting an al Qaeda plot to blow up U.S. gas stations was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday in a case Washington has called a victory in its war on terror.

Uzair Paracha, 26, has said he falsely confessed under the pressure of three days of interrogation by the FBI, but U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein said Paracha "knew what he was doing" in lending support to al Qaeda.

Paracha remained calm after the sentence was read and waved to relatives as he left the courtroom wearing a blue prison jumpsuit.

A jury in November convicted him on five counts including conspiracy to provide and providing material support to al Qaeda. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last year cited the case as one of the top U.S. legal victories in the fight against violent extremists.

Prosecutors said Paracha attended several meetings in Pakistan with his father Saifullah Paracha and suspected al Qaeda members Majid Khan and Ammar al-Baluchi.

They said Paracha agreed to mail travel documents to Khan in Pakistan and hold $200,000 in al Qaeda funds. The government believes Khan was planning to blow up gas stations in Maryland.

Little evidence of the suspected plot was presented at the trial, and the judge noted that FBI questioning revealed Paracha did not know details of any planned attack.

"You are a very intelligent and particularly educated young man," the judge said. "You made a very serious mistake here. It is a loss to the American community and a loss to the Pakistani community."

The other suspects are being held in undisclosed locations and have not been charged. Defence lawyer Edward Wilford said Paracha had been used by them. But prosecutor Karl Metzner disagreed, calling for a long sentence.

"The consequences of the conduct that Mr. Paracha tried to help orchestrate could have been catastrophic," Metzner said.

FEBRUARY 2003 : (KARACHI, PAKISTAN : AL QAEDA'S KSM MEETS WITH UZAIR & SAIFULLAH PARACHAS TO MAKE DEAL FOR ACCESS TO IMG SHIPPING CONTAINERS ; MARITIME SECURITY / PORT SECURITY) Days before he was captured in Pakistan in March, suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed met in Karachi with the owner of a W. 35th St., [NY] clothing importing company and his son, law enforcement sources said. Al Qaeda's No. 3 man offered to invest $200,000 in International Management Group in exchange, federal authorities now believe, for access to IMG's Port Newark-bound shipping containers, sources say.
[Khalid Sheikh] Mohammed "is obsessed with attacking the United States, and New York has always been at the top of the list for Al Qaeda," said one law enforcement source. After learning of the plot, federal authorities began monitoring IMG's containers, though sources said no weapons were found in them. -- "Rag trade terror plot: Al Qaeda sought Garment Center tie," by GREG B. SMITH, New York Daily News, August 22, 2003

If they were only planning to hit gas stations they wouldn't need access to shipping containers from IMG.

NOVEMBER 2005 Wednesday : (UZAIR PARACHA GOES ON TRIAL - See AL QAIDA, BALTIMORE CELL, WMD, CHEMICAL PLOT, MAJID KHAN) NEW YORK - A Pakistani man went on trial Wednesday on charges alleging he agreed to help an al-Qaida operative planning a chemical attack against Americans sneak into the United States. Uzair Paracha, 25, is accused of agreeing to support the plot during meetings with two al-Qaida operatives and his father [Saifullah Paracha], a businessman held at Guantanamo Bay.
"This trial is about the defendant's role in helping al-Qaida penetrate this country and attack the United States from within its own borders," Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Bruce said in his opening statement. Bruce said Paracha was trying to help Majid Khan, an al-Qaida member who was granted U.S. asylum and living in Baltimore. Khan needed Paracha's help to return after leaving the country improperly to go to Pakistan, Bruce said.
The prosecutor said Paracha made deposits into a bank account in [Majid] Khan's name to make it appear he was in the U.S. and posed as Khan to try to obtain an immigration document. Khan and the other al-Qaida operative are presumed to be in U.S. custody overseas, though the U.S. government has refused to acknowledge it.
On Wednesday, Bruce repeatedly referred to a planned chemical attack by [Majid] Khan but never described the plot or when and where it would occur. Prosecutors have said Paracha admitted he believed that Khan was an al-Qaida operative and that by helping Khan he was assisting al-Qaida.
Paracha lawyer Edward Wilford told jurors Wednesday the government's claims stemmed from a false confession Paracha gave after he was subjected to 72 hours of interrogation without being told he could consult a lawyer. "At no point did Uzair Paracha agree to help al-Qaida do anything," Wilford said. ------- "Prosecutor: Pakistani sought to aid terror (NY trial)," by Larry Neumeister - ap, AP on Yahoo, 11/09/05

This bunch is also tied to the 'wanted' Dr. Alafia Siddiqui.

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