7 September 2005: Syrian born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas (42), a/k/a Abu Dahdah, received a minimal 27-year sentence for conspiracy to carry out terrorist murders in Europe's largest terrorist trial. Yarkas was convicted of commanding a terrorist cell that provided funding and logistical support for the terrorists who planned the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A 450-page judgment detailed how Yarkas had conspired with Islamic terrorist Mohammed Atta and other members of the Hamburg-based cell who carried out the September 11 attacks. The sentence is much less than the 74,000 years in prison desired by the prosecution.
Yarkas, pictured at left, is only the second person to be found guilty and jailed for playing a role in the September 11, 2001 attacks against the U.S., The other plotter is Zacarias Moussaoui, having admitted conspiracy in April after being arrested in August 2001 while taking flying classes in Minnesota; he faces the death penalty at his sentencing next year. Yarkas was one of 18 found guilty among 24 defendants on charges of cooperating with al Qaeda or being involved in terrorist activities. Two other suspects, 32-year-old Moroccan Driss Chebli and 41-year-old Syrian Ghasoub al Abrash Ghalyoun, were charged with aiding the 9/11 hijackers in their preparations for the attacks on New York and Washington. Driss Chebli was cleared of murder over the 9/11 attacks but was convicted of collaboration and jailed for six years. Both Yarkas and Chebli were found to have coordinated a key meeting in Spain with Mohammed Atta two months before the attacks.
The third suspect facing charges directly related to the 9/11 attacks, Ghasoub al-Abrash Ghalyoun, pictured at left and below was acquitted. The Syrian-born Spanish citizen was indicted over detailed video he shot of the World Trade Center and other landmarks during a trip to several US cities in 1997.
Dubbed Europe’s “Macro-Trial,” twenty-one other men also stood trial but on charges not directly related to the 9/11 attacks. Of those, 16 were convicted of belonging to or collaborating with a terrorist organization. Five were acquitted.
Other Convictions
The court also sentenced an Al-Jazeera television war correspondent, Tayssir Alouni, who interviewed Bin Laden after the attacks.to seven years in jail for collaborating with al-Qaeda by acting as a financial courier. Al-Jazeera said it will continue to back Alouni as he appeals against his conviction. He had admitted handing over about $4 000 to an alleged al-Qaeda official in Kabul, but denied the money was for terrorism. "He has been found guilty of doing his job," his wife, Fatima Hamed, said outside the courtroom. Chief Editor of al-Jazeera Ahmed Sheik stated: "It is a very sad feeling. We were expecting Tayssir back with us today."
All 24 defendants were part of an original group of 41 suspects indicted by Judge Baltasar Garzon. Judge Garzon has said that Spain was a key base for hiding, helping, recruiting and financing al-Qaeda members in the lead-up to the attacks on New York and Washington.
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