Lebanon convicts 27 over anti-US attacks
A Beirut military court has found 27 people guilty of carrying out a string of anti-US attacks across Lebanon, and has handed down jail sentences varying from three months to life.
One Lebanese man who was tried in absentia was sentenced on Saturday to life imprisonment. Two others, the chief masterminds and perpetrators of the attacks, were each sentenced to 20 years in jail.
Another 24 people were sentenced to between three months and 20 years behind bars, the sources told AFP. Among them were two Palestinians, one jailed for three months and another for 18 months.
Out of the 35 people on trial, four were tried in absentia, the sources said. The attacks were carried out from the end of 2002 to April this year against US businesses in Lebanon.
The targets included American fast-food outlets, restaurants and supermarkets in Beirut, Tripoli in the north and at Jounieh and Dora, north of the capital.