(AKI) - The former imam of the northern Italian city of Varese, Abdelmajid Zergout, has been sentenced to five years in prison for a series of suicide bomb attacks in Casablanca in 2003. Forty-five people were killed - including 12 suicide bombers - in several attacks which occurred in the Moroccan city in May 2003. The bombings were the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country's history.In April 2008, nine people were convicted over the bombings and one of them was sentenced to death, while six others received life imprisonment. According to media reports, prosecutors had been seeking a 30-year sentence during the trial that took place in Rabat. Among the charges, the former imam was accused of "founding a criminal gang to undermine public security".
Zergout had already faced two trials in Italy on charges that he founded the Moroccan group and was extradited to stand trial in Morocco after facing judges in a Milan appeals court. The former imam is married with three children.