Algeria sentences 20 terrorists to death

An Algerian court condemned 20 radical Islamist leaders to death in absentia for smuggling weapons from Europe to supply militant groups in Algeria, an Algerian paper said yesterday.

Le Matin daily said among the 20 Islamist leaders to be sentenced to death -- most of them in exile abroad or in the guerrilla underground -- were Anwar Haddam and Ahemd Zaoui. Haddam, one of the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front's spokesmen, is held in a US prison pending a final decision on his demand for political refuge, Al Gomhoria daily reported.

Zaoudi, who was acquitted on a similar weapons charge by a court in Belgium, is based in Europe and has also made statements in the name of the FIS. The court convicted the 20 Islamics for belonging to armed groups and for weapons trafficking, the paper said.