Four men linked to al Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, hurled abuse at a German court Wednesday as they were convicted and jailed for planning attacks against Jewish interests.
The defendants railed against the presiding judge, Ottmar Breidling, in the western city of Duesseldorf as he handed down the sentences of between five and eight years in prison. The defendants were accused of planning to set off a bomb near the headquarters of the Jewish community in Berlin and of plotting hand grenade attacks against a pool hall and a night-club in Duesseldorf owned and frequented by Jews.
The prosecution described the defendants, aged between 32 and 41, as the "most important members" of the German cell of the Islamic group Al-Tawhid whose overall commander is said to be the Jordanian-born Zarqawi.