Algerian rebel gets life sentence
Extract from BBC News 26 June 2005
A leading Algerian militant, wanted in Germany for the 2003 kidnapping of 32 European tourists, has been sentenced to life in prison by an Algiers court.
Amari Saifi, deputy head of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), was found guilty of forming an terrorist group.
He is thought to have masterminded the tourists' abduction. A German woman died of exhaustion during the ordeal.
The GSPC has declared it has links to al-Qaeda.
Saifi - a former paratrooper - was captured by Chadian rebels in mysterious circumstances.
He was passed to the Libyans, who in turn handed him over to Algeria, AP news agency reports.
He is presently being detained at an unknown location.
In the same hearing, three Algerians were acquitted while two others were given three years in prison.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4622859.stm
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