Shocka! Germany Convicts a Terrorist

German courts acquitted Abdelghani Mzoudi last year, and just barely convicted his buddy Mounir el Motassadeq on re-trial last August. Sentenced to a lousy seven years in the clink, Motassadeq is so far the only person to be tried, convicted, and sentenced in connection with 9/11.

Today, another thug gets a measly seven years:

Lokman Amin Mohammed, 31, had denied being a member of the radical Ansar al-Islam group, but admitted recruiting fighters and raising funds for them. He was living in Munich when he was arrested by police in December 2003.

His trial was Germany's first under a new law introduced after 11 September 2001, which made membership of a foreign terrorist organisation illegal. Mohammed's defence team had appealed for a lesser sentence, claiming that terrorist acts in Iraq were fuelled by an "illegal" US occupation.

During the trial, the court heard that Mohammed had recruited fighters and collected money in mosques in Munich for the insurgency in Iraq. He had also helped smuggle fighters into Iraq and wounded militants back to Europe for treatment.

In the final days of the trial, Mohammed appealed to all Islamists to stop their suicide attacks in Iraq.

I bet he's wishing he got more than seven years too, because prison is the only place he'll be safe.

More interesting info from equally unlikely sources -- the Isle of Man Treasury Department and the Washington Post.