Al Qaeda leader sentenced to 27 years

[Navy6064]

Al Qaeda leader sentenced to 27 years

Mon Sep 26,10:45 AM ET



Spain's High Court jailed an al Qaeda leader for 27 years on Monday, finding he conspired with the September 11 plotters but clearing him and two others of killing 2,973 people in the attacks on New York and Washington.

Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, Driss Chebli and Ghasoub al Abrash Ghalyoun could have faced jail sentences of more than 74,000 years each if convicted of helping plan the September 11 attacks.

But in a setback for prosecutors and magistrates who have spent years investigating the case, the High Court threw out the most serious charges.

The trial is the latest in a series of high-profile terrorism cases around Europe in which prosecutors have had only limited success.

Yarkas and Ghalyoun, both Syrian-born, and Moroccan-born Chebli were among 24 people tried in Europe's biggest trial of suspected Islamist militants.

A three-judge panel heard from more than 100 witnesses during a 2-1/2 month trial that ran from April to early July at a high-security courtroom on the outskirts of Madrid.

Eighteen of the accused were convicted of a crime, mostly of membership or collaborating with a terrorist group, and were handed sentences ranging from six to 27 years in prison.

Six defendants were acquitted on all counts, including Ghalyoun who was accused of giving a video of New York landmarks to al Qaeda to help them carry out the September 11 attacks.

The video, played at the trial, bore all the hallmarks of standard holiday picture-taking, with pictures of friends that included the cue "Say cheese."

Among those convicted was Al Jazeera journalist Tayseer Alouni, who was sentenced to seven years for collaborating with a terrorist group.

The Arab satellite broadcaster denounced the sentencing of Alouni, who interviewed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden shortly after the September 11 attacks.

"This is a black day for the Spanish judiciary which has deviated from all the norms of international justice," Al Jazeera news editor Ahmed al-Sheikh told the station.

APPEALS

All the defendants had protested their innocence and representatives of several said they would appeal.

Yarkas was jailed for 12 years for being a leader of a terrorist group and 15 years for "conspiracy to commit terrorist murder."

Chebli was jailed for six years for co-operating with an armed group, but acquitted of murder.

Two other defendants, Ousama Darra and Jasem Mahboule were jailed for 11 years each for being leaders of al Qaeda.



The wife of Abdalrahman Alarnot, jailed for 8-1/2 years for belonging to a terrorist organization, said her husband had nothing to do with terrorism.

"How do you explain such an injustice to the children?" the wife, who declined to give her name, told reporters.

Yarkas and Chebli were accused of helping prepare a July 2001 meeting in Spain at which prosecutors say the September 11 attacks may have been planned. Hijacker Mohamed Atta and Ramzi bin al-Shaibah, suspected coordinator of the U.S. attacks, were alleged to have attended.

The evidence against Yarkas included a wire-tapped phone conversation that he had on August 27, 2001 with Farid Hilali, another September 11 suspect held in Britain.

In the conversation, Hilali referred to aviation training, saying "they are giving very good classes" and said "they have chopped off the head of the bird" -- which investigators interpreted as a reference to the coming attacks.

Yarkas told the court that the call "has absolutely nothing to do with what you say." The Madrid case pre-dates the al Qaeda-linked Madrid train bombings of March 11, 2004 that killed 191 people. Another judge has accused more than 100 people of a role in those attacks.
2005 Reuters Limited

[Grimmy]

Putting terrorists in prison is a big fat zero sum gain.