Shoe bomber trusts in Allah

LONDON, July 31 (UPI) -- Letters from convicted "shoe bomber" Richard Reid from a super-max prison in the United States include lectures to his father about Islam and dreams of freedom.

The Mirror, a British newspaper, reported that it had an exclusive look at Reid's letters to his father, Robin Reid, a Jamaican-born recovering drug addict living in a London homeless shelter.

Reid berates his father for a letter telling him that his aunt, Madeleine, who brought Reid up while Robin Reid was in prison, had died and was "in a better place."

"What you wrote about Aunt Lynn being in a better place, you should know that while Allah is merciful and forgiving, this applies only to those who upheld His rights, at least at a basic level," Reid said.

He also asked his father to send him $10.

Reid wrote that he believes Allah will free him from prison soon.

"I place my trust in Allah that he will bring that into fruition and ask him to give me patience until the time when that occurs," he said.

Reid was arrested at the Boston airport after he tried to set off explosives hidden in his shoes on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami on Dec. 22, 2001. He was convicted of terrorism charges and is serving a life sentence at a federal prison in Colorado.