Shoe bomber Reid jailed for life in US

SHOE BOMBER Richard Reid was last night jailed for life by a US judge for trying to blow up a transatlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Reid, 29, claimed he tried to blow up the flight bound from Paris to Miami out of love for Islam, the religion he credits with saving him from a life of drug abuse and poverty.

Reid, a British citizen, admitted he tried to ignite shoe bombs aboard American Airlines Flight 63 on December 22, 2001, three months after the September 11 attacks left many Americans afraid to fly.

In court yesterday, Reid angrily denounced American foreign policy against Islamic countries.

“Your government has sponsored the torture of Muslims in Iraq, and Turkey, and Jordan and Syria with their money and weapons,” he said, before then telling the judge: “It’s in your hands.”

Passengers and crew members overpowered Reid, using seat belts and their own belts to strap him to his seat, after he tried to light a fuse protruding from one of his ankle-high hiking boots.

Two doctors who were passengers on the plane injected him with sedatives, and the flight was then diverted to Boston.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Reid faced 60 years to life in prison.

When pleading guilty to the charges in October, Reid said he was a member of the terrorist group al-Qaida and declared his hatred for the United States. But in a memo to the court before his sentencing, Reid’s lawyers say he did not try to blow up the plane with 197 passengers aboard to wage war against America.

According to his lawyers, Reid “took no pleasure” in it, but did it to defend Islam, which he believes has been under attack by the United States.