Saddam's nephew jailed again
2005-12-07 07:15
Baghdad - The nephew of former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for illegally crossing the Syrian border.
Aymen Sabawi is described by United States authorities as a regime insider and supporter of the insurgency.
He was convicted in a Baghdad court on Monday. Sentence was passed on Tuesday.
The charge rose from Sabawi's trial in September, for possession of illegal weapons and bomb making.
In the trial he referred to his travels into Syria.
He was sentenced to six years in prison on those charges.
Sabawi was captured by US and Iraqi forces near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit last May.
His father, half-brother to Saddam, is also in custody awaiting trial.
According to the US military, Sabawi and his family were active in financing and supplying weapons to the ongoing insurgency.
The conviction comes as Saddam himself, along with seven of his deputies, is on trial for massacring Shi'ite villagers in Dujail in 1982.
- AFP