Hambali sentenced to prison<\/p>\n
Suy Se,
\nAgence France-Presse\/Phnom Penh<\/p>\n
A Cambodian court on Wednesday sentenced Indonesian terror
\nsuspect Hambali, in absentia, and five other Muslims to life in
\nprison for plotting a terrorist attack in the country, while
\nfreeing one Egyptian suspect, the judge said.<\/p>\n
\"The court sentenced Hambali, (Malaysian) Ibrahim and
\n(Egyptian) Rousha Yasser to life in prison,\" presiding judge Ya
\nSakhorn said, reading his verdict to the court.<\/p>\n
The court also sentenced Cambodian Sman Ismael and Thais Abdul
\nAzi Haji Chiming and Muhammad Yalaludin Mading to life in prison,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"Esam Mohamid Khird Ali is free\" on lack of evidence, he said
\nthe day after conclusion of a one-day trial.<\/p>\n
Only four of the seven were present at the court, which was
\nunder moderate security and filled mainly with officials and
\nrelatives of defendants.<\/p>\n
Hambali has been in U.S. custody since his capture in Thailand
\nlast year, while Ibrahim and Yasser were also tried in absentia.<\/p>\n
They were convicted of attempted premeditated murder with the
\ngoal of terrorism in Phnom Penh between 2002 and 2003, the court
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Hambali had planned to attack the British embassy in Phnom
\nPenh,\" the judge said, adding that the others convicted were also
\ninvolved in the plot.<\/p>\n
One of the Egyptians and the two Thais were arrested in May
\n2003 before a visit to Cambodia by U.S. Secretary of State Colin
\nPowell, as police announced they had smashed a radical Islamic
\nnetwork.<\/p>\n
Indonesian police allege Hambali is a key member of the al-
\nQaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist network which
\nauthorities blame for numerous Indonesian bomb attacks, including
\nthe October 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.<\/p>\n
Hambali reportedly spent several months in Cambodia.<\/p>\n
It was only on Tuesday that Cambodian officials announced he
\nwould be among the defendants.<\/p>\n
Om Yentieng, advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, hailed the
\ncourt decision.<\/p>\n
\"It is successful for Cambodia,\" he told reporters afterwards.
\n\"We only regret the government could not collect enough evidence
\nto sentence Ali.\"<\/p>\n
At the Tuesday trial Ali denied any involvement in terrorism,
\nsaying he came to Cambodia to be a teacher.<\/p>\n
Kao Soupha, the lawyer for Ali and the two Thai defendants,
\nsaid his two clients who were found guilty were considering
\nlodging an appeal.<\/p>\n
\"This sentence is an injustice even though one of my clients
\nis clear of all charges, because the court did not have clear
\nevidence,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The trial had gone ahead after a 10-month suspension.<\/p>\n
Five of the defendants were arrested in May 2003 and accused
\nof being part of a JI cell that used an Islamic school here to
\nchannel al-Qaeda money from Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
But their trial in February was aborted amid farcical scenes
\nwhen the charges against them were switched from one carrying a
\n20-year maximum penalty to murder, which carries a life sentence.<\/p>",
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