Pakistani convicted for trying to blow up train station

New York, May 25 (UNI) A federal jury in Brooklyn, one of the city's five boroughs, has convicted a Pakistani for planning to damage a local subway station.

Shahawar Matin Siraj was yesterday found guilty following two days of jury deliberations over a span of 10 hours after a four-week trial.

Members of the jury had rejected Siraj's arguments that a paid police informer trapped him by citing the stories of Muslims allegedly abused by Americans.

The informer was identified as Osama Eldawoody, 50, a nuclear engineer born in Egypt. Eldawoody reportedly told Siraj that he would get all the support from an unknown organisation known as the Brotherhood.

The jury at the federal district court in Brooklyn found Siraj, 24, guilty on conspiracy and other counts.

The Pakistani was arrested along with James Elshafay on the eve of a Republican Party convention held in New York in August 2004.

They both were found to be possessing sketches of the convention venue, not far from the Herald Square subway (underground) station.

Elshafay, who agreed to cooperate with prosecution, was monitored during his conversations with Siraj. The Pakistani took the stand in his own defence. Prosecutors found no known terrorist connection to the Pakistani.

The charges against Siraj, especially the plot to blow up a subway station, may carry a life sentence. But according to lawyers and prosecutors the Pakistani might be sentenced in jail for 20-30 years. Siraj rejected a plea bargain that could have got him a 10-year sentence.

''The verdict is an important milestone in safeguarding New York against terrorist plotters, whether homegrown or foreign,'' Raymond Kelly, the city police commissioner, said in a statement.

UNI XC VJ HT1730