Al-Qaida militants plotted to bomb US troop base storing nuclear weapons

THE ringleader in a trial of nearly two dozen alleged al-Qaida militants was convicted yesterday of plotting to blow up a military base used by US forces in Belgium where nuclear weapons are believed to be stored.

Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian who once played professional soccer in Germany, was given the maximum sentence of 10 years by the Brussels court.

He had admitted planning to drive a car bomb into the canteen of the Kleine Brogel air base, where 100 US military personnel work.