Spain sentences 11 Islamist terrorists to jail

Mon, 14 Dec 2009

Madrid - A Spanish court on Monday sentenced 10 Pakistanis and an Indian national to prison for belonging to a terrorist group. The Madrid court sentenced the 11 defendants to between eight and 14 years. They are suspected of having last year planned a suicide bomb attack in Barcelona.

The court said it had found evidence that the defendants belonged to a terrorist organization. Two were also found guilty of possession of explosives.

The state prosecutor had asked the court for sentences of 17 to 26 years in prison.

Police broke up the group, which had links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, last year. Its leader was an imam at a Barcelona mosque.

At the time, police described the arrests as a "preventive action," while investigators stressed that the group had been a long way from carrying out their plan.