Cheb Mami says he is persecuted because he is a successful Arab A French court has jailed the Algerian singer Cheb Mami for five years for abducting a former partner and forcing her to undergo an attempted abortion. Cheb Mami, whose real name is Mohammed Khalifati, was found guilty at a trial in Bobigny, a Parisian suburb. He had denied the charges, telling the court he had been "manipulated" by his entourage. The singer is credited with bringing Algeria's popular Rai folk music to an international audience. He had faced a maximum 10 years in prison. Prosecutors had said that Cheb Mami was one of a group who abducted and beat the woman, a French photographer, in the Algerian capital, Algiers, in 2005.... [read full story]
