A military tribunal issued sentences ranging between six-months to life imprisonment for 25 members of a terrorist group on charges of forming a terrorist network with the aim of carrying out bombings against Western targets and harming the country’s reputation. Two of the defendants, Khaled Ali and Mohammed Kaaki, the leaders of the terrorist group, were acquitted of plotting to attack the US Embassy and assassinate the US ambassador, according to verdicts posted on a court bulletin board late Saturday. They were acquitted because they did not execute their plot; however, both Ali and Mohammed Kaaki were found guilty of planning the bombings against Western targets. They were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labor and they were deprived of their civil rights.
| Hmmm... That's a hefty sentence... |
Five people were wounded in the bombings on Western franchises in Beirut and Tripoli. The attacks, which began last year and continued until April, targeted McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hardees and Spinney’s supermarket. The attacks were seen as part of the wave of anti-American sentiment that washed over the region because of the US occupation of Iraq and the perception that America is biased toward Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians.
| Well, that explains it, then. They certainly couldn't be expected to control themselves and obey laws with that sort of thing going on... |
The court also acquitted eight suspects for lack of sufficient evidence, the bulletin said. Three defendants at large were sentenced in absentia. One of them, Ahmed Mikati, is believed to be hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in Sidon. The other two, brothers Bilal and Maher Khazal, Australians of Lebanese origin, were convicted of funding the group in Lebanon. Bilal, who is a former Qantas baggage handler, sent $2,500 to Kaaki, the mastermind behind the bombings. The three men were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor.
| Now all they've gotta do is catch them... |
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