Iraq sentences US citizens to life in prison

According to a statement released by the interior ministry on Thursday, the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad’s western neighborhood of Karkh handed the ruling to 53-year-old Omar Rashad Khalil, also known as Abu Mohammed, on Wednesday, AFP reported.
 
The sentence said Khalil was wanted for "his direct membership in the terrorist al-Qaeda organization" and his "active participation" in funding "terrorist operations" inside Iraq.
 
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a shadowy group that was reportedly led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi was reportedly killed in June 2006.
 
According to US government and military officials, the group was then led by Ayyub al-Masri, who was killed along with Abu Omar al-Baghdadi -- another leader of the group -- in a joint Iraqi-US operation in Salahuddin province in April 2010.
 
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been blamed for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country since the US-led invasion in March 2003.