Osama’s former minder jailed

A JORDANIAN who says he was once Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard has been convicted of helping plan terror attacks in Germany and sentenced to four years in prison.

However, he received less than half of the maximum term after giving what prosecutors said was valuable testimony about al-Qaida A Duesseldorf state court found Shadi Abdellah, 27, guilty of membership to a terrorist organisation and falsifying passports. He had faced a possible maximum term of 10 years.

Abdellah, who testified he once briefly served as Osama bin Laden's bodyguard, was one of nine alleged members of the Al Tawhid group arrested in Germany in April 2002 on suspicion of plotting imminent terror attacks in the country.

During his five-month trial he spoke openly of Al Tawhid's aims, naming Berlin's Jewish Museum and a Jewish-owned discotheque or bar in Duesseldorf as possible targets. He said the group hoped to emulate al-Qaida's fame.

Prosecutors had sought only a five-year term, saying Abdellah's willingness to divulge the details of the time he spent in an al-Qaida paramilitary training camp increased their understanding of Osama bin Laden and his international terror network.

Presiding judge Ottmar Breidling said Abdellah's testimony was central to imposing a four-year sentence.

"The court is convinced of the credibility of the bulk of the information given by the accused," he said.

Insisting he has renounced terrorism, Abdellah told the court on November 19: "I accept that I am guilty and should be punished".

Prosecutors have said they consider Abdellah's descriptions of his experiences in an al-Qaida paramilitary training camp where he claims to have served as Bin Laden's bodyguard in early 2000 and of Al Tawhid's aims in Germany important to their efforts to prosecute other suspected terrorists.

Abdellah also served as a witness in the trials of two September 11 suspects in Germany, helping place both in Afghanistan leading up to the attacks.