A US citizen has been sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for his role in a 2009 suicide bombing on Pakistan's intelligence service headquarters in Lahore, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Fifty-one-year-old Reaz Qadir Khan, a Pakistani-born naturalized U.S. citizen living in Portland, Ore., pleaded guilty in February to paying $2,450 to Ali Jaleel, one of the suicide bombers responsible for the attack in Lahore, the Associated Press reported. He also admitted to giving financial assistance to Jaleel's wives after the bombing.
"With today's sentence, the court held the defendant accountable and made it clear that no community should be subjected to the dangers posed by those seeking to assist violent extremists whether here or abroad," said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams, according to a press release by Justice Department. Khan did not speak before Judge Michael Mosman of the District of Oregon during sentencing.
About 30 people were killed and over 300 injured in the May 27, 2009 suicide bombing at the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters in Lahore, DW reported. Al Qaeda had released a video with the Ali Jaleel claiming the responsibility of the attack, which was in apparent revenge for Pakistan army's offence against Taliban militants in northwest Swat.
Khan, who has been living in the U.S. since 1988, was arrested in March 2013. He was working as wastewater treatment plant operator in Portland at the time, according to Daily Times.
"The threads of violent extremism are weaving a path through many American cities. As in the Khan case, sometimes that path leads to those who are willing to fund activities overseas. In other instances, the path leads to homegrown extremists who are willing to commit heinous acts or to those who inspire them to do so," Greg Bretzing, special agent in charge of the FBI's Portland Division, said while announcing Khan's sentencing on Friday.
