Four Algerians have been jailed for plotting to blow up a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg. A court in Germany convicted the four of conspiracy to murder, saying the attack would have caused a bloodbath. The men had planned to detonate a bomb made from a pressure cooker at the bustling market beside Strasbourg Cathedral on New Year’s Eve in 2000. Aeroubi Beandalis, Fouhad Sabour, Salim Boukari and Lamine Maroni were given jail terms of between 10 and 12 years. Some of the men admitted attending camps in Afghanistan, where prosecutors believe they received al-Qaeda training. Police who raided their flat in December 2000 found explosives and weapons, and a video tape of the market in which they declared that the people there were the enemies of God, who would be sent to hell. “They planned to kill defenceless people at the Christmas market,” said presiding judge Karlheinz Zeiher. “Through this action, in the European city of Strasbourg, they wanted to spread fear in France and Europe. “The accused wanted to hit the nerve centre of a free, Western, civilised society.” Full Story
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