US sentences Abu leader to 23 years for 1995 abduction
12/19/2010WASHINGTON — A senior member of the bandit group Abu Sayyaf was sentenced Friday (Saturday Manila time) to 23 years in a US prison over the kidnapping for ransom of tourists, including four Americans, officials said.
With former hostages from the 1995 drama watching in a Washington courtroom, a judge handed down the punishment to Madhatta Haipe, a Philippine citizen who was extradited to the United States last year.
Haipe, a former professor in Islamic studies, had faced life in prison but received a lighter sentence after pleading guilty.
Prosecutors said Haipe was second-in-command of the al-Qaeda-linked group at the time of the kidnapping.
“It was incredibly gratifying that so many of those victims were able to stand today in an American courtroom and watch the terrorist who held them hostage be sent to prison for his crimes,” federal prosecutor Ronald Machen said..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101219hed6.html
0 comments
Post a Comment