Court sentences al Qaeda supporter to 25 years

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Florida-based doctor convicted of supporting al Qaeda for swearing allegiance to Osama bin Laden and agreeing to help treat wounded fighters was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday

Rafiq Sabir, 52, was found guilty by a federal jury of two terrorism charges based on an oath he and his friend Tarik Shah made in Arabic in May 2005 to an undercover FBI agent posing as an al Qaeda recruiter. He taped both men pledging support to the militant Islamic group and "Sheikh Osama."

Sabir, a strict Muslim raised in New York, pleaded innocent and said he had been misled by Shah, a martial arts expert and jazz musician.

"I had no clue I was being asked to treat al Qaeda members," Sabir said in pleading for leniency to U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, repeating his trial testimony that he did not understand the pledge because his Arabic was poor.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2864288920071128?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

And Scooter served how much time for burning a covert operative?

Well, one of the defendants was a well-connected white guy, and the other wasn't. Guess which one is going to the pokey?

And yeah, the punishment does not fit the crime, in either case. Flip them around and I'd be happier.

sorry posted to wrong thread. :silly: it's early.

Wouldn't it be nice to see, someday, amidst all the kidnapping and illegal imprisonment and torture, the conviction of somebody who actually *is* a member of al-Qaeda?