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More on the Moroccan al-Qaeda cell
A Belgian court late on Thursday sentenced three Moroccans it found guilty of heading an al-Qaeda linked Belgian cell to a total 20 years behind bars. Abdelkader Hakimi and Lahoussine El Haski got a seven year prison sentence, while Mustafa Lounani, received a six year jail term. The high-security trial was one of Europe's biggest anti-terrorism cases since the September 11 attacks on the United States, and was widely seen as a test of Belgium's new anti-terrorism laws.The court convicted Hakimi, El Haski and Lounani, all Moroccan nationals resident in Belgium, of leading a Belgian cell belonging to the al-Qaeda linked Moroccan Islamic Combat Group (GICM). The GICM group is suspected by investigators to be linked to deadly bombings in the Spanish capital, Madrid, in March 2004 and in Casablanca, Morocco, in May, 2003. The court ruled that they had provided logistical support to the group by allowing members to stay with them after the Madrid bombings, and by raising funds. It found eight other men guilty on lesser charges but acquitted two. Hakimi was convicted of founding the GICM in Maaseik, Belgium, and of being its "unifier". He also coordinated contact between the Belgian GICM cell and French cells, the trial judges said. He is a veteran mujahadeen from Afghanistan and the Balkans. El Haski, also an Afghanistan veteran, was the cell's theologian and took part in gathering and administering funds, according to the judges. Lounani was responsible for finding recruits to fight in the insurgency in Iraq, the judges said. The Moroccans denied that they were members of the GICM cell. Defence lawyers argued the only evidence against some of the accused was that they knew men charged with serious crimes. The trial began on 3 November last year, and is the first to be covered by Belgium's new anti-terror law. State prosecutors had requested a 10-year sentence for Hakimi and El Haski - the maximum allowed under the new legislation - and eight years for Lounani. A maximum five-year sentence can be handed down for belonging to a terrorist organisation, the new anti-terror law stipulates. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-02-18 |
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