Al Jazeera journalist jailed in Spain

MADRID - Media groups condemned a Spanish court on Monday for jailing an Arab journalist, known for interviewing Osama bin Laden shortly after the September 11 attacks, on terrorism charges.

A European media watchdog said sentencing Al Jazeera reporter Tayseer Alouni for seven years in jail would set alarm bells ringing among investigative journalists and might make them think twice before undertaking risky assignments.

"I think it sets a dangerous precedent, particularly for anyone who seeks to interview bin Laden in the future," said Jean-Francois Julliard, news editor of the Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RWF).

"Journalists have always investigated terrorist groups and their activities. It's part of our job," he told Reuters.

The New York-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists said it intended to study the verdict.

Alouni was found guilty of collaborating with al Qaeda in Europe's biggest ever trial of suspected Islamist militants. He was one of 18 defendants sentenced.

Prosecutors said the 50-year-old reporter, known to millions of viewers in the Arab world, befriended al Qaeda militants and took money to Afghanistan which was intended for members of the group blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities.

Alouni, a Syrian with Spanish citizenship, admitted delivering US$4000 ($5899.70) to one of his co-defendants but said he was doing a favour for an acquaintance.

He said he had developed good sources inside al Qaeda but this did not make him a terrorist -- just a good journalist.

Al Jazeera, who employed Alouni in Afghanistan, Iraq and Spain, stood by its reporter.

"This is a black day for the Spanish judiciary which has deviated from all the norms of international justice," the channel's news editor Ahmed al-Sheikh said.

"It is a verdict that is based on circumstantial evidence at best. We are convinced of Tayseer's innocence." Sheikh said Alouni's family would appeal against the verdict. Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, also said he should be released on bail for health reasons pending a hearing.

Tayseer came to Spain from Syria nearly 20 years ago and settled in the southern city of Granada where he worked as a translator for Spanish news agency EFE.

He then joined Al Jazeera and was working for the network in Afghanistan at the time of the September 11 attacks.

Weeks later he got his big break - the first media interview with bin Laden after the attacks. Al Jazeera decided not to broadcast the interview but it was screened by US broadcaster CNN later that year.

In its legal argument, the Spanish court said it did not believe Al Jazeera would have employed Alouni on the basis of his limited journalistic experience prior to the interview.

It said it was clear Alouni had close contact with al Qaeda militants long before he joined Al Jazeera.

- REUTERS