Man sentenced for attempting to set up jihad camp

He was accused of helping to try to set up a training camp to support al-Qaida in Oregon in 1999 under orders from radical cleric Abu Hamza, the London imam.

Haroon Aswat, 41, is shown in this courtroom sketch during sentencing in U.S. Federal court in New Y …

Aswat, described by prosecutors as a “loyal and devoted follower” of Abu Hamza, admitted onspiring to provide material support to al-Qaeda and providing material support to the terror group.

The court heard how Aswat and Oussama Kassir went to Bly, Oregon, 16 years ago to set up a camp providing religious training, which prosecutors said was set up to support al-Qaida. The objective of the Bly camp was for Muslims to receive various types of training – including military-style jihad training – in preparation to fight jihad in Afghanistan.

In a brief statement, Aswat apologized for breaking United States law and causing “distress” to friends and family, and said he looked forward to finding a wife, and settling down.

Aswat was arrested in Zambia in 2005 and deported to Britain. A ledger recovered in September 2002 from an al Qaeda safe house in Karachi, Pakistan, listed a number of individuals associated with al Qaeda, including Aswat.

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 September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and shoe bomber Richard Reid.

He lost his final legal battle when in January 2015, when the European Court of Human Rights dismissed a case he brought against the United Kingdom government arguing his extradition rested on inadequate assurances from U.S. officials about his treatment.

Aswat was convicted of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, and one count of providing material support to al Qaeda.

Abu Hamza and Kassir were previously convicted for their roles in attempting to establish a terrorist training camp in the United States.

On Friday, US District Judge Katherine Forrest said it was “of the greatest importance” that Aswat receives psychiatric care for his paranoid schizophrenia.

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

This case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and global Narcotics Unit. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Stansbury said “to paint this man as a pacifist is a complete distortion of the truth”.