NEW YORK – A Lebanese-born Swede has been sentenced to life in prison for plotting to open a terrorism training camp in the western state of Oregon.
U.S. District Judge John Keenan sentenced Oussama Kassir on Tuesday in New York.
He was convicted in May of supporting Al Qaeda by trying to help open the camp in Bly, Oregon, in 1999.
Keenan called Kassir "a clear threat to public safety."
Before he was sentenced, Kassir claimed trial witnesses had lied and he complained the deliberations lasted only two hours.
Prosecutors said the goal was for Al Qaeda to take advantage of relaxed U.S. gun laws and train European recruits.
They also said Kassir had distributed manuals on the Internet with instructions on making bombs, poisoning people and slitting throats.
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