Dutch court jails four for Islamist terror plot

AMSTERDAM, Dec 1 (Reuters) A Dutch court sentenced four Islamist militants today to jail for planning terrorist attacks on politicians and the Dutch intelligence service.

The court sentenced 20-year-old Dutch-Moroccan Samir Azzouz to eight years in jail for plotting attacks and sentenced three other defendants to prison terms of three to four years. Two other suspects were acquitted of involvement in terrorist plots.

The trial was seen as a test of new anti-terrorism laws in the Netherlands, particularly since Azzouz was acquitted of planning attacks in 2005 only to be rearrested months later.

Azzouz was initially arrested in a police crackdown following the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004 by another Dutch-Moroccan, Mohammed Bouyeri.

REUTERS PDM BS1832