Pakistani Man Sentenced to 40 years for Planned Al Qaeda Attack
A Pakistani man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for planning to bomb a shopping center in Manchester, as well as other plans to attack New York City and Copenhagen.
Abid Naseer, a 29-year-old extremist who denied any connection to al Qaeda during his trial, was convicted by a federal jury in March earlier this year on charges that he supplied material support to the Islamic militant group.
At his sentencing , in which he faced a maximum of life in prison, he sought leniency from US District Judge Raymond Dearie, stating that he was not a career criminal. The planned attack in Manchester was planned to be carried out in the Arndale shopping center. The attack was part of a larger overall al Qaeda plan to bomb the New York City subway system as well as a Copenhagen newspaper. Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, two other men that were part of the planning, have pleaded guilty to US charges stemming from the New York subway plot. A third man, Adis Medunjanin, was sentenced in 2012 to life in prison.
