[An Nahar] A French court sentenced four men to up to seven years in jail Monday for having tried to wage jihad abroad, at a time of concern over the mounting number of nationals going to fight in Syria.The four were accused of having tried -- and failed -- to reach jihadist hotspots in 2009 and 2010 and of having facilitated the departure to a zone on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistain of two other Frenchies who were later killed in a U.S. army raid.
Ibrahim Ouattara, 26, one of the accused and the leader of the group, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Of Malian origin, Ouattara converted to Islam when he was 16 and later attempted on several occasions to join jihadists in Pakistain, Afghanistan or Somalia, without ever managing to do so.
In the Pak city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, for instance, he asked to be taken to a madrassa, according to one of his testimonies in court last month.
"I was brought to a mosque, but I was phoning my wife in La Belle France and it annoyed them. They chased me away," he said.
"Another mosque said I couldn't stay as I was black. Have you been to Peshawar? When you're black, everyone looks at you."
He also tried to reach the Somali al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
bully boy group, which has links to al-Qaeda, via Egypt and Sudan.
"Egyptian police placed in durance vile
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
and tortured me, before deporting me to La Belle France", he said.
Another member of the group was also tossed in the clink
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
for seven years, and two co-defendants were sentenced to four and five years in prison.
The court case came amid mounting concerns over the number of young jihadists heading to fight in Syria, whom authorities fear could pose a major security threat if they return home as battle-hardened veterans.
According to Interior Minister Manuel Valls, as many as 700 Frenchies could have joined the fighting in Syria.