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French man sentenced to eight years in jail for jihad in Mali

Xinhua, May 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

A French court on Friday gave an eight-year jail sentence to a French man for joining Islamist insurgents in northern Mali in 2012 and 2013, local media reported.

Gilles Le Guen was accused of having links with criminal and terrorist organizations and suspected of participating in terrorist acts abroad, news channel BFMTV reported.

The 60-year-old jihadist joined Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in northern Mali three years ago. He was arrested by the French army in April 2013 and then sent home.

Some 1,300 French nationals or residents have either joined fighters in Syria and Iraq or are planning to do so, according to official figures.

Fearing that hundreds of nationals could return home to carry out attacks after being trained in Syria, the government reinforced measures to crack down on radicalized men and stem the flow of youth recruited to fight in the Arab country.

The government's anti-Jihad bill allows authorities to ban French nationals suspected of having ties with a jihadist cells from leaving the country for an indefinite period.

Moreover, the bill allows websites that encourage jihad to be blocked, without a judge's approval. Enditem