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TERRORISM

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.

Swede convicted in US on terror charges

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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TERRORISM

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

Police in Milan said on Thursday they had arrested a 37-year-old Algerian man in the subway, later discovering he was wanted for alleged ties to Islamic State.

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

When stopped by police officers for a routine check, the man became “particularly aggressive”, said police in Milan, who added the arrest took place “in recent days”.

He was “repeatedly shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while attempting to grab from his backpack an object that turned out to be a knife with a blade more than 12cm (nearly five inches) long,” they said in a statement.

The man was later found to be wanted by authorities in Algeria, suspected since 2015 of belonging to “Islamic State militias and employed in the Syrian-Iraqi theatre of war,” police said.

Police said the suspect was unknown to Italian authorities.

The man is currently in Milan’s San Vittore prison and awaiting extradition, they added.

Jihadist group IS proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014 across swathes of Syria and Iraq, launching a reign of terror that continues with hit-and-run attacks and ambushes.

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