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Iraqi doc jailed for life over failed Glasgow bombings
Published on Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 18:47, Updated on Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 18:56 in World section
Tags: Glasgow Airport Bombing, Bilal Abdulla , London
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London: An Iraqi doctor, who along with his Indian accomplice attempted to set off massive car bombs at the Glasgow Airport and a London nightclub, was on Wednesday jailed for a minimum of 32 years after he was convicted of trying to kill hundreds of people in the botched attacks in June 2007.
Bilal Abdulla, a 29-year-old doctor, was found guilty on Tuesday by the Woolwich Crown Court of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions, with accomplice Kafeel Ahmed, 28, who hailed from Bangalore and died of burn injuries he sustained during the failed bombings.
Handing down the life sentence, Justice Colin Mackay ordered Abdulla, who was born in UK but raised in Iraq, to serve at least 32 years concurrently on each count.
Describing Abdulla as a "religious extremist and a bigot", the judge told him that "all of the evidence makes you a very dangerous man, you pose a high risk of serious harm to the British public in your present state of mind. That fact plus the circumstances of the offences themselves means that the only possible sentence on each of these two counts is a life sentence."
A third man, Jordanian doctor Mohammed Asha, was acquitted of involvement in the failed bombings, but he could be deported.
Lawyers for Asha, who remains in custody, said they would fight for his stay in the UK.
During the nine-week trial, Asha admitted he knew Abdulla and Ahmed but denied any knowledge of the attacks.
After Abdulla was sentenced, Asha said in a statement read by his lawyer that the accusations had "obliterated" his life and that of his family.
Asha, a neurologist, also vowed to fight any move to deport him.
The first attack last year in June involved two failed car bombs left in London's West End outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub.
Then a burning jeep filled with gas canisters was driven into Glasgow Airport. In each case there had been no loss of life.
Abdulla admitted in court that he was "a terrorist", but accused the British government of terrorism for their actions in Iraq. However, he said he had only wanted to frighten people rather than kill them.
"Many people felt and still feel strong opposition to the invasion of Iraq," Mackay told Abdulla.
"You have strong reasons for holding that view. But you were born with intelligence and you were born into a privileged and well-to-do position in Iraq and you are a trained doctor," the judge said.
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