Algerian jailed for life

ALGIERS: An Algerian court handed a life sentence on Tuesday to Gharbia Amar, an Islamist convicted of participating in the 2003 kidnapping of 15 foreign tourists, including 10 Germans, in the Sahara desert.

A Malian, Youcef Ben Mohamed, was acquitted of the same charge but given a seven-year jail term for belonging to “an armed terrorist group” and smuggling illegal weapons, one of their lawyers, Hassiba Boumerdassi, said.

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