SARGODHA: A Pakistani court on Thursday sentenced five Americans to 10 years each in jail after finding them guilty of waging war against the state and funding a terrorist group, lawyers said.
The five Americans, aged 19 to 25, had been on trial in a closed court in a prison in the eastern city of Sargodha since March. The judge found them guilty of two charges, but acquitted them of three other charges.
Each defendant was handed concurrent sentences of 10 and five years and fined 70,000 rupees (820 dollars).
Both the defense and the prosecution vowed to appeal.
"We will appeal the verdict and ask for 20 years," said Rana Bakhtiar, deputy prosecutor general for the Punjab provincial government in the case.
The Americans -- of Egyptian, Eritrean, Pakistani and Yemeni descent -- were arrested in December in Sargodha on charges of plotting a terrorist attack.
Umar Farooq, Waqar Hussain, Rami Zamzam, Ahmad Abdullah Mini and Amman Hassan Yammer had faced a maximum punishment of life in prison.
"For criminal conspiracy they were sentenced to 10 years in prison plus 50,000 rupees` fine," defence lawyer Hassan Katchela told AFP.
Defence lawyers and the prosecution said the clause included "waging war against Pakistan".
"For funding a banned terrorist organisation they were imprisoned for five years each plus 20,000 rupees` fine," Katchela said, vowing to appeal.
Pakistani officials have said the young men planned to travel to neighbouring Afghanistan and join up with Taliban-led militants fighting US and NATO troops.
The defendants pleaded their innocence, saying they came to Pakistan to attend a wedding and wanted to travel onto Afghanistan to do humanitarian work.
They have accused the FBI and Pakistani police of torture, but the authorities have flatly denied any ill treatment.
Prosecutors and police accused them of funding a banned group and conspiring to carry out an act of terror within Pakistan or an allied country.
Investigators claimed that the men planned to travel to South Waziristan, a training ground for Islamist militants in Pakistan`s lawless tribal belt and a region targeted by a major military operation last year.
The trial was held under tight security and reporters were not allowed near the prison where the accused have been held.
Although the Pakistani government is a close ally in the US war on Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, the country is gripped by widespread anti-Americanism and many blame deteriorating security on the alliance.
Washington has put the government and military under major pressure to do more to eliminate Islamist networks that have carved out havens in the country`s northwest and infiltrate Afghanistan to attack Western troops.
BDST 1604 HRS, June 24, 2010
NJ/DC
