Tunisia court convicts five for alleged coup plot

Mike Rosen-Molina at 3:00 PM ET A court in Tunisia [US State Department backgrounder] on Wednesday convicted five men, including two government officials, of involvement in a terror plot against the Tunisian government [official website, in French]. National security force officer Souhail Guezdah was sentenced to to nine years in prison, while deputy prison head Sami Belhaj Aissa received a four-year sentence. Three others received sentences ranging between four and nine years. The proceedings echoed the internationally-publicized 1987 trial [New York Times report] of dozens of Muslim fundamentalists accused of attempting to overthrow the Tunisian government using terrorist tactics. A defense lawyer promised to appeal the convictions, noting that about 1,000 people have been charged or sentenced under a 2003 anti-terror law... [read full story]