Al-Qaida plotter's sentence reduced

An al-Qaida operative who pleaded guilty in a plot to bomb high-profile targets in Britain and the United States should be eligible for parole after 30 years in prison instead of 40, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The Court of Appeal reduced Dhiren Barot's sentence after ruling that the plot had not progressed far enough to merit the punishment, one of the toughest ever handed down in a British court.

"A life sentence with a minimum term of forty years should, save in quite exceptional circumstances, represent the maximum sentence for a terrorist who sets out to achieve mass murder but is not successful in causing any physical harm," the judges ruled. "Where the offense is of conspiracy and the acts of the defendant fall short of an attempt, the sentence should be lower."

Barot, a 34-year-old British convert to Islam, was convicted last year of plotting to bomb several U.S. financial targets, London hotels and train stations.

Five other men have pleaded guilty in recent weeks to being part of the conspiracy.

Born in India and raised in London, Barot began plotting in 2000 to attack a host of financial industry targets in the United States, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the targets included the International Monetary Fund in Washington and Citigroup headquarters in New York.

Investigators said Barot traveled the world to gain terrorist training, meeting terror leaders including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

They said Barot shelved the plan to attack the U.S. financial industry targets after Sept. 11, 2001, and instead focused on using limousines loaded with gas, napalm and nails to attack landmark London hotels and railway stations.