LONDON (Reuters) - A female student, thought to have been converted to violence by a radical preacher being hunted in Yemen, was jailed for life on Wednesday for trying to murder a British politician in revenge for him voting for the Iraq war. Roshonara Choudhry, 21, knifed former Treasury Minister Stephen Timms twice in the stomach during an advice surgery at an east London community centre in May. A security source told Reuters on Tuesday the student had been radicalised by listening to sermons issued online by Anwar al-Awlaki, a preacher based in Yemen who is wanted by Washington for links to al-Qaeda. You said you ruined the rest of your life. You said it was worth it. You said you wanted to be a martyr, said Mr Justice Cooke, sentencing Choudhry at the Old Bailey in central London. Choudhry, who had told police she had attacked the opposition Labour politician as a punishment and to get revenge for the people of Iraq, will serve a minimum of 15 years. The judge said she would continue to be a danger to lawmakers for the foreseeable future. The decision to go to war was the most controversial episode of the former Labour government ousted in May, provoking huge protests and accusations that the then prime minister, Tony Blair, had deceived the public about the reasons for the invasion. The court heard how Choudhry smiled and pretended she was going to shake hands with the former minister, before stabbing him with a kitchen knife. Police said Timms was extremely fortunate not to have been killed. Timms, 55, who was elected to parliament in 1994, has made a full recovery following surgery. Choudhry, from east London, had refused to attend court and told her barrister she did not accept its jurisdiction, and did not wish him to challenge the prosecution case.