Military

DATE=02/03/033

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN SENTENCE (S-O)

NUMBER=2-299166

BYLINE=ROSS DUNN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: An Israeli military court has sentenced a Palestinian to 27-years in jail for planning terrorist attacks on behalf of Osama bin-Laden's al-Qaida network. Ross Dunn in Jerusalem has more on the story.

TEXT: The Israeli military prosecutor says Nabil Abu Okal was trained by al-Qaida in Afghanistan to bomb Israeli targets.

The prosecutor, Captain Ron Shor, says Okal met Osama bin-Laden's deputy, Abu Hamza, in Afghanistan and was trained in recruiting techniques and how to make bombs and chemical weapons.

In addition, Captain Shor says after returning to Gaza Okal met with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, an Islamic group dedicated to Israel's destruction. The prosecutor says Sheikh Yassin presented Okal with a blessing and five-thousand dollars to travel back to Afghanistan for more training.

He was arrested before he could leave. That was in the year 2000.

Okal denied all the charges and continued to insist that he is innocent, even after the 27-year sentence was handed down.

The 29-year-old resident of a Gaza refugee camp is the first Palestinian to be tried and convicted by Israel of having links to al-Qaida. (SIGNED)

NEB/RD/AWP/FC/rae