BERLIN, April 6 -- A Tunisian man accused of planning attacks on Jewish or American targets in the German capital was acquitted of terrorism charges Wednesday, but found guilty of lesser offenses, including tax evasion and illegal possession of weapons.
Ihsan Garnaoui, 34, the defendant in tightly guarded proceedings known here as the "Berlin al Qaeda trial," was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
European prosecutors have a mixed record in terror cases, which are often set back by the refusal of intelligence agencies to provide evidence in open court.
Garnaoui's indictment was based largely on statements from two confidential informants, but local officials would not allow them to appear in court, undermining the prosecution's case.
Federal prosecutors accused Garnaoui of forming a terrorist group and planning an attack on Jewish or American targets in Berlin to coincide with the start of the Iraq war in March 2003. Prosecutors alleged that he entered Germany illegally in January 2003 after training at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.
In a statement, the court said general discussion of "violent action against 'nonbelievers' does not constitute creation of a terrorist group."
The defense conceded that Garnaoui had broken certain laws. But "we said from the beginning that they could not prove" the terrorism charges, Michael Rosenthal, Garnaoui's attorney, said in a telephone interview after the trial. "And we were right."
-- Shannon Smiley
