Human Rights

Iraqi militant


http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4604908.stm

German court jails Iraqi militant_helped smuggle fighters into Iraq and wounded militants back to Europe for treatment.
An Iraqi man has been jailed for seven years for helping insurgents in Iraq, in a landmark ruling by a German court.

Lokman Amin Mohammed, 31, had denied being a member of the radical Ansar al-Islam group, but admitted recruiting fighters and raising funds for them.
He was living in Munich when he was arrested by police in December 2003.

His trial was Germany's first under a new law introduced after 11 September 2001, which made membership of a foreign terrorist organisation illegal.
Mohammed's defence team had appealed for a lesser sentence, claiming that terrorist acts in Iraq were fuelled by an "illegal" US occupation.

Appeal to attackers

During the trial, the court heard that Mohammed had recruited fighters and collected money in mosques in Munich for the insurgency in Iraq.
He had also helped smuggle fighters into Iraq and wounded militants back to Europe for treatment.
But he denied being a member of a terrorist organisation. Mohammed said he had never sworn an oath to the spiritual leader of Ansar al-Islam.
In the final days of the trial, Mohammed appealed to all Islamists to stop their suicide attacks in Iraq.
Last year, German police arrested three other Iraqis suspected of supporting and helping fund Ansar al-Islam, which the US says is part of the al-Qaeda network.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4604908.stm
Published: 2006/01/12 10:04:15 GMT
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