Story highlights Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri was convicted of supporting al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists

Al-Masri was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in New York

Judge Katherine Forrest tells al-Masri, "I don't believe the world would be safe with you in 10 years, 15 years or longer"

New York (CNN) Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was convicted of supporting al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists, was sentenced to life in prison Friday by a federal judge in New York.

federal jury in Manhattan convicted al-Masri in May of aiding kidnappers during a 1998 hostage-taking in Yemen, sending a young recruit to jihadists in Afghanistan, violating U.S. sanctions against the Taliban, and attempting to establish an al Qaeda-style training camp on the West Coast of the United States.

"Abu Hamza's blood-soaked journey from cleric to convict, from Imam to inmate, is now complete," Preet Bharara, United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement after sentencing. "After years of fighting extradition, Abu Hamza finally faced justice, as all those who engage in terrorism against innocent civilians must, here in the U.S., and all around the globe, as the terrible events in Paris remind us."

On Friday, the cleric had a scruffy beard and wore a blue prison jumpsuit. He entered the courtroom with his arms exposed and without a prosthetic, which he put on occasionally to write.

The high-profile London mosque leader gained notoriety for the metal hook he is sometimes depicted wearing in place of one of his missing hands, but he wore only an occasional writing prosthesis in the Manhattan courtroom during his monthlong trial. Contrary to stories that he lost the limbs in battle, al-Masri testified, his maiming was the result of an engineering accident.

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