Dhiren Barot gets 40 years for US and Britain terror plots

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.

8220;You are, Mr Barot, a determined and dedicated terrorist, a highly intelligent and extremely dangerous man,8221; the judge said as he handed down the sentence. 8220;This conspiracy was designed to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the state.8221;

In Britain, Barot conceived the 8220;Gas Limos Project8221;, a scheme to blow up three limousines packed with gas cylinders in car parks underneath major buildings. Prosecutors said Barot carried out reconnaissance on leading London hotels and three railway stations.

That plan was found in a file named Eminem2.doc on a Toshiba laptop discovered by Pakistani police in July 2004 after they arrested Naeem Noor Khan, described as a major al-Qaeda figure.

After his sentencing, he will be temporarily transferred from his cell to the US to face a four-count indictment, which includes a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, according to a spokesman for the Home Office.

8211;Mark Trevelyan