ISIS sympathiser jailed for 16 years in Denmark

Syrian-born Ali Al Masry faces deportation after serving his prison sentence in Denmark

A view of Copenhagen, Denmark. Alamy

An ISIS sympathiser was sentenced to 16 years in prison by a court in Denmark on Tuesday for plotting a bomb attack in the Scandinavian country.

The sentence is the longest imposed so far for crimes of terrorism in Denmark, with life in prison being the maximum allowed.

Syrian-born Ali Al Masry, 35, was found guilty of an "attempted terrorist act" by a court in Holbaek, a suburb of Copenhagen, and of financing and promoting "terrorist activities".

He was arrested in February 2021 with his Syrian brother and Iraqi-born Danish wife in a joint Danish-German operation.

"We are convinced that with these arrests we prevented an attack from being carried out," prosecutors John Catre Nielsen and Kirsten Jensen said.

Al Masry pleaded not guilty, saying 12kg of powder and chemicals found in his flat had been intended for a fireworks display.

Lebanese men join ISIS to escape poverty- in pictures

Ghufran, 56, the mother of Zakaria Al Adl, a member of ISIS killed in Iraq, wipes her tears during an interview in her house in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood. Dozens of young men from Tripoli, Lebanon's poorest city, are believed to have recently joined ISIS. All photos: AFP

Lebanese men smoke water pipes as they take a break outside their workshop in an alley of Tripoli's impoverished neighbourhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Since August, dozens of young men have disappeared from Tripoli, which has been especially hard hit by the country's financial crash.

Mechanics repair a car in an alley in Bab al-Tabbane.

Tripoli's neighbourhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen. Even before the 2019 onset of Lebanon's financial crisis, Lebanon's second city was widely seen as a volatile militant bastion.

Ghufran, the mother of Zakaria Al Adl, a member of ISIS killed in Iraq, talks as one of her sons shows a photo of his brother during an interview in her house.

The mother of Omar Seif, who disappeared from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli's neighbourhood of Wadi Al Nahle, cries during an interview held weeks before she found out that Omar was killed in Iraq after joining ISIS.

A boy works in a blacksmith's workshop in Bab al-Tabbaneh. A security official estimates that 48 young men have joined ISIS, and that the latest wave of recruits left Lebanon on January 18. Only five of the 48 have so far been accounted for.

Ghufran, the mother of Zakaria Al Adl, a member of ISIS killed in Iraq.

Tripoli's poorest neighbourhoods have been major supporters of Sunni militants responsible for attacks against the army and involved in extremist activities in Tripoli and beyond.

Thousands have been detained on suspicion of terrorism links, many without trial.

Tripoli's Baddawi neighbourhood. It is believed that financial hardship is the main reason Tripoli's young men are joining ISIS ranks. The group is luring its recruits with the promise of salaries up to $5,000 a month, an official said.

Iraq's National Security Adviser Qassem Al Araji has said that Baghdad has started talks with Lebanese authorities about the ISIS threat.

He will be deported after serving his prison sentence in Denmark.

His wife, 31, and brother, 37, were found guilty of financially supporting Al Masry and jailed for nine and six months respectively.

His brother will also be deported after serving his sentence.

Iraq's Mosul five years after ISIS defeat - video