German court sentences Iraqi Kurd to 5.5-year prison

A court in the south German city of Munich sentenced a 36-year-old Iraqi Kurdish man to 5.5 years in prison for collecting funds for the Iraqi terror organization Ansar al-Islam, news reports said Monday.

The convict was also found guilty of supporting a foreign terrorist group.

Germany's federal prosecutor had charged the Iraqi national with providing financial aid and logistical support to Ansar al-Islam.

The man, identified only as Burhan B., allegedly passed funds of as much as 28,607 US dollars to the group at least three times between November 2003 and May 2004 and thereby supported the terror organization.

He also violated export control rules by transferring the money, according to the prosecutor.

Burhan B., who has been held in custody in Germany since June 12, 2006, was in close contact with Ata A. R., who is alleged to have been part of Ansar-al Islam's leadership in Germany.

Ata A. R. and two other Iraqi nationals identified only as Mazen H. and Rafik Y. went on trial on June 20 last year in the southern German city of Stuttgart.

They are charged with attempting to assassinate a former Iraqi prime minister, Iyad Allawi, the first leader of the Iraq Interim Governing Council following the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, during a visit to Berlin in December 2004.