Man jailed for al-Qaida links

AN Israeli military court yesterday jailed a Palestinian for 27 years for training with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network and planning to carry out attacks against Israelis.

The case of Nabil Okal, 29, marked the first time Israel has convicted a Palestinian of having ties to al-Qaida.

As a member of the Islamic militant group Hamas operating in the Gaza Strip, Okal travelled to Afghanistan in 1998, where he met a bin Laden deputy and attended a training camp, according to the indictment.