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LONDON - A man who plotted to blow up the New York Stock Exchange and carry out attacks in Britain with gas-filled limousines and a "dirty bomb" was jailed for a minimum of 40 years on Tuesday.
Dhiren Barot, 34, was sentenced by a London court after pleading guilty last month to conspiracy to murder in a case sparked by the arrest of an al Qaeda figure in Pakistan.
"You are, Mr Barot, a determined and dedicated terrorist, a highly intelligent and extremely dangerous man," the judge said as he handed down the sentence.
"This conspiracy was designed to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the state."
Barot, who visited Pakistan in early 2004, had submitted the plans for approval by "your al Qaeda overlords", the judge said.
"Your plans were to bring indiscriminate carnage and butchery, first in Washington, New York and Newark and thereafter in the United Kingdom on a colossal and unprecedented scale."
Barot, a Muslim convert, was accused of plotting to blow up the headquarters of the New York Stock Exchange, Citigroup, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and Prudential in New York, Washington and Newark, New Jersey.
But for the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, the judge said he had little doubt that one or more of these plans -- presented like 'business proposals' and saved on computer files -- would have become a "dreadful reality".
After 9/11, Barot switched his attention to attacks on Britain centring on the "Gas Limos Project", a scheme to blow up three limousines packed with gas cylinders in car parks underneath major buildings.
Reconnaissance
Prosecutors said he carried out reconnaissance on leading London hotels and three railway stations.
Evidence against him included copious research his group had conducted into explosives, chemicals, radioactive materials and the construction of buildings, focussing on their ability to withstand fire.
A written proposal for a "dirty bomb" project appeared based on an incident in France when a truck carrying 900 smoke detectors caused a fire. The blaze sparked fears that people nearby could suffer exposure from small amounts of radioactive materials contained in the detectors.
"If something so small and simple such as 900 burning smoke detectors could cause so much havoc, then by increasing the amount used the possibilities are good," the proposal said.
It recommended setting fire to 10,000 smoke detectors by dousing them with petrol, or placing them on top of an explosive device.
The detectors could be bought for 50,000 pounds, in small batches over 10 months and a successful attack could create 500 long-term radiation casualties, the document estimated.
While accepting the finance and equipment for the planned attacks was not in place, the judge told Barot -- who watched without emotion from a glass box at the back of the court -- it was "only a matter of time" before they would have become a reality, but for his arrest in August 2004.
Seven alleged co-conspirators are due to face trial next year.
- REUTERS
