Friday, July 21 2006 12:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: A Pakistani youth was sentenced to 30 years in jail after being convicted of trying to help an al-Qaeda operative to sneak into the United States as a part of a plot blow up gas stations.

Imposing the tough and exemplary sentence on 26-year-old Uzair Paracha, US District Judge Sidney Stein said it was aimed at deterring others who might wish to do the same.

Paracha knew what he was doing while agreeing to help the al-Qaeda operative into the United States, the judge said.

A jury had convicted the Pakistani in November last year, rejecting his contention that he had confessed under pressure during three days of interrogations by the FBI.

In his testimony, Paracha said that he told FBI during interrogation what he thought they wanted to hear. He also told the FBI that he had no interest in al-Qaeda but agreed to go along as it had promised to invest 200,000 dollars in his family business.

"You are a very intelligent and particularly educated young man. You made a serious mistake. It is a loss to the American community and a loss to the Pakistani community," the judge said.

The prosecution case was that Paracha had attended several meetings his father Saifullah had with suspected al- Qaeda operatives Majid Khan and Ammar al-Baluchi. Saifullah Paracha is being held in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Paracha, the prosecutors said, was to mail immigration documents to Khan, which would enable him to re-enter the US. But the plan did not succeed and Khan, a former Baltimore resident, was not able to re-enter. Prosecutors believed that the plan was to bomb underground storage tanks in gas stations in Maryland.