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Swede convicted in US on terror charges

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Swede convicted in US on terror charges

A Swedish man of Lebanese origin charged with planning to set up an Al Qaeda training camp in the United States was convicted by a New York court on Tuesday, according to prosecutors.

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Ousama Kassir "was convicted on all counts," a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office said.

Kassir faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

He was extradited to the United States in September 2007 from Prague, where he was jailed after his arrest in 2005 during a stopover while flying from Sweden to Lebanon.

Prosecutors said in the jury trial at a federal court in Manhattan that Kassir, 43, tried to set up a "jihad" (holy war) camp in Oregon, in the northwest United States.

Kassir declared his innocence when he was charged last year, and his lawyer on Tuesday said his client had "a big mouth," but was not a criminal.

Prosecutors said he reached the United States in 1999 and spent a year at an Oregon ranch, imparting religious teachings at a Seattle mosque before returning to Europe, according to the prosecution.

A federal sentencing hearing is expected to take place on September 2nd, reports the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

Kassir’s defence attorney, Mark DeMarco, said he planned to appeal the verdict.

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