UK man gets 20 years for trying to set up US al-Qaida camp

[Jonathan Fairfield]

UK man gets 20 years for trying to set up US al-Qaida camp

TOM HAYS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A British man being treated for schizophrenia was sentenced to 20 years in prison on U.S. charges that he helped in a failed attempt to set up an al-Qaida training camp in a remote part of Oregon two years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Haroon Aswat had admitted in a guilty plea in March that he traveled to Bly, Oregon, in 1999 at the direction of Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, a double-amputee and radical cleric based in London.

The Sheffield, England-born Aswat also admitted that his job was to help train recruits who wanted to fight jihad. But his lawyers argued Friday that he deserved a lesser term because he was a minor player in the plot who became a personal assistant to Mustafa, but never adopted his views.

Over time and through treatment for his mental illness, he told the judge, "I have chosen peace over violence. ... I hope to lead a peaceful, crime-free life."

Prosecutor Shane Stansbury cited evidence that Aswat had traveled to Afghanistan to receive military-style training from al-Qaida, telling U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, "To paint this man as a pacifist is a complete distortion of the truth."

The judge agreed to the stiffer sentence, but also sought assurances from prosecutors that Aswat, 41, would receive sound mental care while in custody, even if it meant returning him to the United Kingdom to serve his sentence.

Afterward, defense lawyers said their client would receive credit for 10 years he spent behind bars in Britain fighting extradition and an additional year for his time in U.S. custody. In court papers, prosecutors confirmed Aswat is eligible for "good time credit" and can apply for an international prisoner transfer subject to approval by the Department of Justice.

Authorities say Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, turned London's Finsbury Park Mosque in the 1990s into a training ground for Islamic extremists, attracting men including Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and shoe bomber Richard Reid. He claims to have lost his hands fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.

According to court papers, conspirators spoke of choosing a site known as Dog Cry Ranch for the camp because the property was located in a "pro-militia and firearms state" that "looks just like Afghanistan," and that the group was "stockpiling weapons and ammunition." But the camp never materialized beyond a dozen people taking target practice, authorities said.

Mustafa was sentenced earlier this year to life in prison following a trial in the same Manhattan courthouse.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-17

[ezzra]

How Dufus can one be to set up a al Qaida training camp in the state? don't tell me now that this

cap was not far from a police station or an army base.... Al Qaida no less/ couldn't he start with

an ISIS camp first and than build up to Al Qaida?

[slipperylobster]

First we get the crazy cubans from the Mariel Boatlift...then we be the crazy brits.

Keep those folks in your own country !!!

[vogie]

First we get the crazy cubans from the Mariel Boatlift...then we be the crazy brits.

Keep those folks in your own country !!!

You are so right, america has enough of its own grown nuts.

[Gordy Gambino]

Treason he should get the chair.

[Credo]

Treason is an act committed against one's own country. Since he is from the UK, he hasn't committed treason against the US.

[condobrit001]

Haroon Aswat a Brit? That's like saying Obama is an American!

[Publicus]

Haroon Aswat a Brit? That's like saying Obama is an American!

If a tree falls in the Oregon woods near an al Qaeda training camp in 1999 and nobody hears it is it Obama's fault.

It is of course a rhetorical question given normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

OP says a remote part of Oregon but nevermind that 98% of Oregon is remote. Oregon voted twice for Obama btw.

It looks anyway like a good ending for everyone cause this loony will probably end up back in the UK where he is welcomed and he'll be out of the USA where he is not. So it seems people everywhere still like happy endings.

[evadgib]

I'd like to see citizenship revoked in such circumstances & forcible removal to the ancestral home or country of allegiance although in this case 20 years in a orange jumpsuit somewhat softens the blow.

Filth!

[55Jay]

Just do it in the UK where it'll blend right in unnoticed.

[ggt]

normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

How on earth...would you know what normal people believe?

[MAJIC]

Haroon Aswat a Brit? That's like saying Obama is an American!

If a tree falls in the Oregon woods near an al Qaeda training camp in 1999 and nobody hears it is it Obama's fault.

It is of course a rhetorical question given normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

OP says a remote part of Oregon but nevermind that 98% of Oregon is remote. Oregon voted twice for Obama btw.

It looks anyway like a good ending for everyone cause this loony will probably end up back in the UK where he is welcomed and he'll be out of the USA where he is not. So it seems people everywhere still like happy endings.

Who said he will be welcomed back in the UK?

[Publicus]

normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

How on earth...would you know what normal people believe?

Ask and ye shall receive given especially it is a point blank question and although it quotes only a fragment of my post.

For one thing not every expat is a self-exiled rightwinger of his own country who was self-compelled to leave cause he couldn't accept the changes occurring in his society so he's been lashing out daily against the changes ever since.

For so many American rightwinger expats the escape is to feudal society instead of, say, a European one. All the same more American expats reside in Italy than in any other country which means they are not escaping the modern world or contemporary and advanced society. UK with its strange language and bizarre neighborhoods is not such a great package either.

Oregon and its redwood forests are easily preferred. When a tree falls in Oregon it falls on an al Qaeda with a dead giveaway accent.

[Mudcrab]

Mustafa was sentenced earlier this year to life in prison following a trial in the same Manhattan courthouse.

Mustafa is now in jail in the US??

[Publicus]

Haroon Aswat a Brit? That's like saying Obama is an American!

If a tree falls in the Oregon woods near an al Qaeda training camp in 1999 and nobody hears it is it Obama's fault.

It is of course a rhetorical question given normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

OP says a remote part of Oregon but nevermind that 98% of Oregon is remote. Oregon voted twice for Obama btw.

It looks anyway like a good ending for everyone cause this loony will probably end up back in the UK where he is welcomed and he'll be out of the USA where he is not. So it seems people everywhere still like happy endings.

Who said he will be welcomed back in the UK?

Somebody said I don't remember who that the guy may be invited to address parliament in Westminster. Victim of injustice and all of that.

After which UK can lecture Australia on its own successful model of how to protect an island country's coastline against immigrant assault. (No offense intended to NZ.)

Correct me if I'm wrong.....

And at your own risk.

[Srikcir]

"I hope to lead a peaceful, crime-free life."

And so he shall for the next 20 years.

[Chicog]

Mustafa was sentenced earlier this year to life in prison following a trial in the same Manhattan courthouse.

Mustafa is now in jail in the US??

Yeah, this obnoxious ******.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30754959

[freebyrd]

Having read the first line of this topic, did anyone really think his name would be John Smith?......I was born in Sheffield .

[chickenslegs]

Much better known in the UK under the name Abu Hamza. Preaching hatred of Western values while living well on state benefits.

His family are still in the UK, living in a 1.25 million GBP house, and with an unearned annual income of over 30,000 GBP, all provided by the tax payer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10845934/Benefits-for-Abu-Hamzas-family-must-be-reviewed-says-MP.html

[tumama]

He should have set one up in Syria instead and he would have gotten millions of dollars in U.S tax money.

[MAJIC]

Haroon Aswat a Brit? That's like saying Obama is an American!

If a tree falls in the Oregon woods near an al Qaeda training camp in 1999 and nobody hears it is it Obama's fault.

It is of course a rhetorical question given normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

OP says a remote part of Oregon but nevermind that 98% of Oregon is remote. Oregon voted twice for Obama btw.

It looks anyway like a good ending for everyone cause this loony will probably end up back in the UK where he is welcomed and he'll be out of the USA where he is not. So it seems people everywhere still like happy endings.

Who said he will be welcomed back in the UK?

Somebody said I don't remember who that the guy may be invited to address parliament in Westminster. Victim of injustice and all of that.

After which UK can lecture Australia on its own successful model of how to protect an island country's coastline against immigrant assault. (No offense intended to NZ.)

Correct me if I'm wrong.....

And at your own risk.

The difference between protecting Australia and England as respective Islands is vastly different,Australia is a huge Continent with 3 time zones,whereas England could fit into one corner of Queensland or similar! I appreciate your joke,but this is like comparing,the Sahara Desert with the Amazon Rainforest!

Edited October 17, 2015 by MAJIC

[MAJIC]

Haroon Aswat a Brit? That's like saying Obama is an American!

If a tree falls in the Oregon woods near an al Qaeda training camp in 1999 and nobody hears it is it Obama's fault.

It is of course a rhetorical question given normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

OP says a remote part of Oregon but nevermind that 98% of Oregon is remote. Oregon voted twice for Obama btw.

It looks anyway like a good ending for everyone cause this loony will probably end up back in the UK where he is welcomed and he'll be out of the USA where he is not. So it seems people everywhere still like happy endings.

Who said he will be welcomed back in the UK?

Somebody said I don't remember who that the guy may be invited to address parliament in Westminster. Victim of injustice and all of that.

After which UK can lecture Australia on its own successful model of how to protect an island country's coastline against immigrant assault. (No offense intended to NZ.)

Correct me if I'm wrong.....

And at your own risk.

Considering the importance of who would be invited to address the UK Parliament, your mate would most certainly be a non starter!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_addressed_both_Houses_of_the_United_Kingdom_Parliament

[Publicus]

Who said he will be welcomed back in the UK?

Somebody said I don't remember who that the guy may be invited to address parliament in Westminster. Victim of injustice and all of that.

After which UK can lecture Australia on its own successful model of how to protect an island country's coastline against immigrant assault. (No offense intended to NZ.)

Correct me if I'm wrong.....

And at your own risk.

The difference between protecting Australia and England as respective Islands is vastly different,Australia is a huge Continent with 3 time zones,whereas England could fit into one corner of Queensland or similar! I appreciate your joke,but this is like comparing,the Sahara Desert with the Amazon Rainforest!

Appreciate the point but I've been around maps and classrooms to include elsewhere for several decades thx. Some people avoid stating the obvious btw.

[Publicus]

<<snip>>

It looks anyway like a good ending for everyone cause this loony will probably end up back in the UK where he is welcomed and he'll be out of the USA where he is not. So it seems people everywhere still like happy endings.

Who said he will be welcomed back in the UK?

Somebody said I don't remember who that the guy may be invited to address parliament in Westminster. Victim of injustice and all of that.

After which UK can lecture Australia on its own successful model of how to protect an island country's coastline against immigrant assault. (No offense intended to NZ.)

Correct me if I'm wrong.....

And at your own risk.

Considering the importance of who would be invited to address the UK Parliament, your mate would most certainly be a non starter!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_addressed_both_Houses_of_the_United_Kingdom_Parliament

mate?

There's a lot of seriousity [sic] in your posts about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland where St Augustine once set foot and tread not to mention the Normans. As Jack Straw famously said to entertained laughter at the Iraq UNSC debates of 2003, "England is an old country. It was founded in 1066 by the French." (Who as the Normans were anyway from Scandinavia)

Then there were the WW2 Americans who were overpaid oversexed and over there (again)..

Which brings us full circle to the Muslims who are still smarting from Charles Martel The Franks, led by Charles Martel, stop the Moorish (Muslim) invasion of western Europe at the Battle of Tours

Youze guyz seem to owe a lot to the French, just not recently I'd guess, as in the American War of Independence.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Publicus

[ggt]

normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

How on earth...would you know what normal people believe?

Ask and ye shall receive given especially it is a point blank question and although it quotes only a fragment of my post.

For one thing not every expat is a self-exiled rightwinger of his own country who was self-compelled to leave cause he couldn't accept the changes occurring in his society so he's been lashing out daily against the changes ever since.

For so many American rightwinger expats the escape is to feudal society instead of, say, a European one. All the same more American expats reside in Italy than in any other country which means they are not escaping the modern world or contemporary and advanced society. UK with its strange language and bizarre neighborhoods is not such a great package either.

Oregon and its redwood forests are easily preferred. When a tree falls in Oregon it falls on an al Qaeda with a dead giveaway accent.

Maybe the question should have been...what constitutes a "normal person" in your estimation? Why do you consider "right wingers" outside your parameters of normal?

[Publicus]

normal people know what The Donald and other crackpots on the margins like to believe. .

How on earth...would you know what normal people believe?

Ask and ye shall receive given especially it is a point blank question and although it quotes only a fragment of my post.

For one thing not every expat is a self-exiled rightwinger of his own country who was self-compelled to leave cause he couldn't accept the changes occurring in his society so he's been lashing out daily against the changes ever since.

For so many American rightwinger expats the escape is to feudal society instead of, say, a European one. All the same more American expats reside in Italy than in any other country which means they are not escaping the modern world or contemporary and advanced society. UK with its strange language and bizarre neighborhoods is not such a great package either.

Oregon and its redwood forests are easily preferred. When a tree falls in Oregon it falls on an al Qaeda with a dead giveaway accent.

Maybe the question should have been...what constitutes a "normal person" in your estimation? Why do you consider "right wingers" outside your parameters of normal?

Cause one reads the posts and the threads over time.

So now let's get back on topic which is the secret al Qaeda operative in Oregon with crossed eyes and a British-Arab accent and no hands.

And the American right wing with no ideas born of this planet and a big black stamp with "NO" on it. .

[hugh2121]

Haroon Aswat British? Yeah right!

Hope he serves every last minute in the toughest prison there is.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.

[Bignose]

I am most definitely not capable of the mental gymnastics that some of you perform, how you can twist a simple post round to you're egocentric and irrelevant squabling is beyond me.

My only (boring) comment is that this is a good job by the authorities, the associated agencies deserve great credit for snaring this low life.

I hope he serves every day of his sentence, and is released as a harmless and broken man. His convenient mental illness should be treated but ignored, he must serve every day to protect society...

[tumama]

Me wondering how many are FBI informants and how many are just stating that their so called crimes are worse than if they were to accept a plea deal.

Come to think about it. Reminds me of how our supreme leader treats terrorists here. Just say what we want. And we will get you off lighter.

Edited October 21, 2015 by tumama