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Europe
3 Belgian GICM members convicted
2006-02-17
A Belgian court has found three men guilty of belonging to an Islamist group linked to terror attacks in Madrid and Casablanca, in Morocco. The court ruled they were leaders of a Belgian cell of the al-Qaeda-linked Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group. Abdelkader Hakimi and Lahoussine El Haski were sentenced to seven years each and Mostafa Louanani to six years.

The March 2004 train bombings in Madrid killed 191 people and the attacks in Casablanca in May 2003 killed 45. The trial, which began in November, is the first to be covered by Belgium's tough new anti-terror laws. The court found eight other men guilty on lesser charges but acquitted two. The three chief defendants, all of whom are Belgian nationals of Moroccan origin, denied belonging to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM). But 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. Reading out a 300-page verdict, the judges said Hakimi had visited Afghanistan and Croatia for training and had established a GICM cell in Belgium, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Everything after 'yer guilty! guilty, guilty, GUILTY!!" was superfluous.
El Haski was guilty of raising money for the group, while Louanani was responsible for finding recruits to fight in the insurgency in Iraq, the judges said. Under Belgium's terror legislation, a maximum five-year sentence can be handed down for belonging to a terrorist organisation, and a 10-year term if convicted of playing a co-ordinating role in helping terrorists.
Time off for good behavior, of course, so they'll be jugged for about five years.
Defence lawyers argued the only evidence against some of the accused was that they knew men charged with serious crimes.
Posted by:Dan Darling

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