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AL QAEDA

Lars Vilks on Al-Qaeda ‘wanted dead or alive’ list

Controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks is reported to be one of eleven people on a list of targets for extremists published by an Al-Qaeda linked group, according to a Reuters report

Lars Vilks on Al-Qaeda 'wanted dead or alive' list

Vilks is one of eleven targets named in an English language pamphlet published on several militant websites by AQAP – Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian peninsula.

American pastor Terry Jones, writer Salman Rushdie, Dutch politician Geert Wilders and Danish artist Kurt Westergaard were others mentioned.

The targets are listed with name and photo in a two page spread entitled “Yes we can. A bullet a day keeps the infidel away” and shows a mock up of Terry Jones being shot in the head.

The pamphlet, published under the name Inspire Magazine, also called on French troops to leave Mali and gives advice on how to ignite a car.

The magazine has been in circulation since July 2010 and typically includes tips on how to carry out various terrorist activities and attacks.

Lars Vilks has faced numerous death threats and a suspected assassination plot since his drawing of the Muslim prophet with the body of a dog was first published by Swedish regional daily Nerikes Allehanda in 2007.

It illustrated an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.

The drawing by Vilks prompted protests by Muslims in the town of Örebro, west of Stockholm, where the newspaper is based.

Egypt, Iran and Pakistan also made formal complaints about the drawing.

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AL QAEDA

Man jailed in Frankfurt for fighting with Somali Islamists

A Frankfurt court sentenced a Somali-born German national to two years and ten months in jail on Friday, for joining the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group and fighting alongside the Islamists in his native country.

Man jailed in Frankfurt for fighting with Somali Islamists
A Somali government soldier in Mogadishu in 2011. Photo: DPA.

The suspect, identified only as 29-year-old Abshir A, was found guilty of membership of a foreign terrorist group.

The court said the accused, who was born in Mogadishu, left Germany for Somalia in 2012 after becoming radicalized and was active for the militant group until early 2014.

He spent around four months undergoing combat training upon arrival, during which time Shabaab militia taught him how to handle weapons and employ guerrilla tactics, according to a court statement.

The accused was then sent to a Shabaab base but left “shortly afterwards because of health problems”, it added.

He remained in Somalia however, and only returned last year.

He was arrested upon his return at Frankfurt airport in July 2016.

The accused denied taking part in any fighting in Somalia, where the Shabaab are seeking to overthrow the country's internationally-backed government.

The group has also carried out deadly attacks elsewhere in East Africa.

German courts have jailed a number of returning jihadists for their membership in foreign terror groups.

Five men were sentenced to prison terms of up to five years in 2016 for having joined the Shabaab in Somalia.

In another case last year, a court jailed three young German men for up to four-and-a-half years for having joined extremist fighters in Syria in 2013.