Dhiren Barot, a British man who pleaded guilty to planning a series of bombs on US and British targets, was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday. Barot was accused of planning several attacks, including the "Gas Limo Project" to blow up three limousines filled with explosives in underground parking garages in Britain.
Justice Butterfield of the Woolwich Crown Court handed down the sentence, saying a successful execution of Barot's plans would have resulted in a catastrophe on a "colossal and unprecedented scale." Prosecutors presented evidence that Barot wrote a proposal to obtain approval and funding for the plan from al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan. Barot pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for his involvement in the plot last month, but his seven co-defendants maintain their innocence. Prosecutors also said Barot planned to detonate a bomb below the River Thames in an attempt to immerse the London subway system in water. In addition to attacks planned throughout the UK, prosecutors alleged that Barot planned to attack the International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington DC, the New York buildings in Newark, New Jersey. Barot was indicted in New York for the US-related bomb plans last April, along with two other men.
|