Jordan sentences Fatah Islam leader at large to jail
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A Jordanian military court on Wednesday convicted 16 militants - including the fugitive Fatah Islam leader involved in recent fighting in Lebanon - of plotting to join al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq.
Shaker al-Absi, whose whereabouts remain unclear, and 15 others - 11 of whom are in custody - were handed prison terms ranging from 20 months to five years. The remaining five are at large and were tried and sentenced in absentia, as was al-Absi, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin. Al-Absi was presumed dead after fighting in the Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared ended, but Lebanese authorities later said a DNA test on a body suspected to be his proved negative. (AP)
