Pakistani immigrant convicted of NY subway plot

NEW YORK, May 25 (Reuters) A Pakistani immigrant was convicted of plotting to blow up a New York City subway station in a case that shed light on police investigation tactics since the September 11 attacks.

Shahawar Matin Siraj, 23, faces a maximum life sentence after a Brooklyn federal court jury yesterday convicted him of conspiring to place and detonate an explosive on the city's mass transit system, among other charges.

During the five-week trial, Siraj claimed he was entrapped by an overzealous police informant twice his age, Egyptian Osama Eldawoody, 50, who met the younger man in an Islamic bookstore while spying on mosques for the New York police.

During the trial, prosecutors played taped conversations between the two men in which the younger man discussed plans to bomb the Herald Square subway station in midtown Manhattan.

Siraj's defense attorney Martin Stolar argued his client was ''not the brightest bulb in the chandelier'' and was easily led by Eldawoody. Siraj questioned new powers granted to police after they lobbied for increased surveillance of mosques they believed could harbor Islamic extremists.

Eldawoody testified in 2003 and 2004 he served as the ''eyes and ears'' of the police and was paid more than 100,000 dollars to report about daily mosque activities, including prayers.

Prosecutors said Siraj had the will to carry out a plot supporting his extremist views. Their case was strengthened by the testimony of a co-conspirator who pleaded guilty in the case and an undercover police officer who said Siraj openly supported al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The police department considered the case an example of a wider focus on suspects such as Siraj who are not affiliated with any major extremist groups.

''The verdict is an important milestone in safeguarding New York against terrorist plotters whether home-grown or foreign,'' said New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

REUTERS DH RN0642