France jails Moroccan man linked with Sept. 11 attacks

A French court on Thursday sentenced Moroccan Karim Mehdi to nine years in prison for associating with Sept. 11 hijackers.

Karim Mehdi, 37, was the only person to face charges in the French judicial investigation into the 2001 attacks in New York.

Having been suspected of ties to the Sept. 11 attacks and to al Qaeda, Mehdi was detained in June 2003 at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, where he was en route from Germany to La Reunion, the Indian Ocean territory of France.

According to the investigator, the Moroccan planned to carry out surveillance for a future bomb attacks in La Reunion.

Mehdi pleaded innocent at a September trial, but the state prosecutor argued that he had firm plans to stage an attack.

"Equipment was bought, Mehdi had drawn up an operational plan and potential targets were discussed," the prosecutor said.

Mehdi's 1992 trip to Afghanistan and al Qaeda training camp, his 1993 trip to Bosnia, and his address book containing the names of two central figures in the Sept. 11 attacks, were also held up as proof of his connection to the al Qaeda network.

Source: Xinhua