Pakistani convicted for plot to bomb New York subway
A Pakistani man was convicted of planning to blow up a New York subway station ahead of the Republican National Convention held before the 2004 presidential election.
Shahawar Matin Siraj, 24, could face life in prison for conspiring to plant explosives at the 34th Street subway station near Madison Square Garden, where the political gathering took place, according to the Justice Department.
Another man, James Elshafay, pleaded guilty in October 2004 to participating in the plot and later testified against Siraj.
The federal jury in Siraj's five-week trial heard hours of secretly recorded conversations between him and an Egyptian nuclear engineer who became a paid informant for the New York City Police Department, the Justice Department said in a statement.
In the calls, Siraj declared his hatred for the United States and openly discussed his desire to place explosives on various bridges and in subway stations in New York, including his plan to bomb the 34th Street station, the department said.
Siraj and Elshafay scoped out the subway station on August 21, 2004, and later drew diagrams as part of their plot, it said. They were arrested six days later, but they carried no explosive material.
"Siraj conspired to plant a bomb in one of the most active public transportation hubs in America," prosecutor Roslynn Mauskopf said in a statement.
"Thanks to the diligent work of law enforcement, the plot never developed beyond the planning stage, and the public was never at risk," she said.
Republicans and Democrats hold huge political conventions every four years to officially name their presidential candidates. President George W. Bush was nominated as the Republican candidate at the 2004 gathering.
AFP
