Saudi Arabia has quietly expanded access to its only store that sells alcohol, allowing wealthy foreign residents to buy such drinks in the latest step in the once-ultraconservative kingdom’s experiment in liberalisation.

There has been no official announcement of the decision, but word has got out, and long lines of cars and people can now be seen at the discreet, unmarked store in the Diplomatic Quarter of the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The store opened in January 2024 for non-Muslim diplomats.

The new rules allow non-Muslim foreigners who hold Premium Residency to buy.

The residency permit goes to foreigners with specialised skills, investors and entrepreneurs.

Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, has banned alcohol since the early 1950s.

The store is widely seen as a way to cautiously test the controlled sale of alcohol.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and his father, King Salman, have pursued a dramatic liberalisation policy in the kingdom, aiming to attract tourism, boost international business and reduce economic dependence on crude oil.

The kingdom, which adheres to Islamic Sharia law, has opened cinemas, allowed women to drive and hosted major music festivals.

But political speech and dissent remain strictly criminalised, potentially at the penalty of death.

Alcohol remains banned for the general public.

The unmarked store resembles a duty-free shop.

Its ownership remains officially undisclosed.

Security is strict.

Every visitor is subject to eligibility checks and frisking before entry.

Phones and cameras are banned inside, and staff even inspect eyewear for smart glasses.

The Associated Press spoke to several customers leaving the store.

Prices are sharply elevated, they said.

Diplomats are exempt from taxes on their purchases, but Premium Residency holders are not.

The customers described the store as relatively well-stocked, though some said the selection of beer and wine was limited.

The Premium Residency permit was created as part of the kingdom’s drive to attract global expertise.

Unlike other residencies, it does not require a Saudi sponsor, and it offers benefits including the right to own property, start a business and sponsor family.

It requires high incomes or large investments to qualify.

Saudis and other residents who want a drink often travel to the neighbouring island of Bahrain, where alcohol is legally available to Muslims and non-Muslims.

On weekends and holidays, the island sees an influx of visitors from Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, making it a popular getaway.

The more expensive option is to go to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Others resort to smuggled alcohol, which can be extremely expensive, or to bootleg booze – often homemade and risky, using unsafe materials.

Some people in Saudi Arabia enjoy alcohol-free beverages as a substitute for the real thing or to capture the aesthetic of drinking, often snapping photos for social media.

At major events and festivals, it is not uncommon to see long lines forming at alcohol-free beer stands, especially among young Saudis and visitors looking to partake in the vibe.

King Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia’s founding monarch, banned the sale after a 1951 incident in which one of his sons, Prince Mishari, became intoxicated and used a shotgun to kill British vice consul Cyril Ousman in Jeddah.

Read more: Two million expected as Hajj season begins in Saudi Arabia.

A man has been found guilty of travelling to Syria to fight with a terrorist group linked to al Qaida for jihad.

Isa Giga, 32, resigned from his job as a technical support consultant job at a technology firm and bought a business class return flight to Turkey before crossing into war-torn Syria in August 2015.

Despite pleas from his family, Giga did not return to the UK for nine years and was arrested upon his arrival on a flight from Turkey last May.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, he was found guilty of preparation of terrorist acts between August 31 2015 and August 31 2016 by travelling to Syria to fight with the Jaysh Al Fath groups.

The court heard how Giga had left the home he shared with his parents and sister in Hounslow, west London, in August 2015 and informed them he had gone to Syria for jihad.

On September 11 2015 – the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States – he told his sister: “I have come here to fight for jihad. I’m based in Idlib province and I fight for Jaysh al Fath which is the rebel coalition which includes the Free Syrian Army up to al Qaida-linked groups.

“I have come here to fight against (Bashar) Assad and also to fight against Isis. I can’t sit at home when fellow Muslims are in need and their religion is in danger.”

His father responded: “Please don’t do anything that will break my or your mother’s or family’s heart, stay within the bounds of true Islam and humanity, stay away from extremism and follow the Sunnah.”

But in a further message to his sister, Giga said he had finished his training and had been given the “opportunity to fight on the front line in the near future”.

He told her: “I hope more than anything to gain martyrdom while fighting against Isis or against the Assad regime but I fear death as much as anyone else so I am in need of your duas (prayers).”

The court heard that Giga’s father did everything he could to try to convince his son to return home and travelled to Reyhanli, a small Turkish town close to the Syrian border.

In a letter to Giga from the border, he wrote: “I have promısed your mum that somehow I will try my best to convince you to come out of there, and we will settle down anywhere in this world where you feel comfortable and happy…

“Can you for one minute imagine what the rest of her life will be like if something was to happen to you? Isa, her life wıll be destroyed and so will all of ours.

“It is on that basis I beg you to stay safe and come out of there immediately. And stay away from the front line because the Russians are using all kınds of firepower.”

However, Giga appeared to be set on “martyrdom”, the court heard.

Then in December 2015, Giga told his sister that he planned on doing charity work – although the organisation concerned had no record of it – and by August 2016 contact with his family petered out.

Eight years later, Giga was issued an emergency passport by the British Consulate in Istanbul.

Police were waiting when Giga arrived at Heathrow Airport on a Turkish Airlines flight on May 23 2024.

Following his arrest, Giga made no comment in police interviews but in a prepared statement denied he had travelled to Syria to fight or join any groups.

He claimed he had lied to his family about doing charity work, training, fighting and joining groups because he thought they would struggle to understand the idea of going there simply to live.

Giving evidence in his Old Bailey trial, Giga maintained that he had gone to Syria only to live in an Islamic state.

A jury deliberated for 10 hours and 26 minutes to reject his version of events and find him guilty by a majority of 11 to one.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC ordered a report and adjourned sentencing to October 17.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We have been clear for some time now that anyone returning to the UK suspected of being involved in any terrorist-related activity overseas will be thoroughly investigated.

“We work very closely with other partners and agencies here in the UK and overseas in order to do this and help keep the public safe.

“As this case shows, we will always arrest those who return to the UK after fighting for a terrorist group, no matter how long it has been since they left the country.”

OPINION – FAITH MATTERS

We rarely take a position as an organisation, to suggest that a country is no longer safe for Christians. However, repeated attacks against Christians in Pakistan and the recent attacks on churches and Christians in Jaranwala, have one thing in common. They are based on Christians simply being accused of blasphemy.

Repeated governments of Pakistan have failed to stop such attacks. They have failed to challenge and implement educational measures in schools to defend the rights of minorities, yet Pakistan has relied on western aid and arms for decades. It is time that Pakistan be told that such attacks against Christians cannot be tolerated without serious impacts on exports to the country. 

Many Pakistani politicians have played a dual approach in their relations with the West. They have talked about challenging extremism and terrorism, whilst quietly allowing Islamist extremists to operate from Pakistan. Let us not forget that Bin Laden was finally found to be resident in Abbottabad and it beggars belief that Government politicians and officials played the feigned ignorance approach to his residence in the country even though he was living in Pakistan for years.

We are at a point where Christians in Pakistan feel unsafe and liable to attack. This is not felt in a small section of Pakistani Christians but throughout the community. No doubt, they will be blamed for further ills and each attack is growing more violent and widespread against this vulnerable community.

Pakistan is no longer safe for Christians. We need to be clear that their lives are not cheap and that any further attacks will see sanctions and trade embargoes on the country.

Muslims in eastern Pakistan went on a rampage over allegations that a Christian man had desecrated the Koran, demolishing the man’s house, burning churches and damaging several other homes, police and local Christians have said.

The scale of the violence prompted the government to deploy additional police forces and send in the army to help restore order.

The attacks in Jaranwala, in the district of Faisalabad in Punjab province, erupted after some Muslims living in the area claimed they had seen a local Christian, Raja Amir, and his friend tearing out pages from a Koran, throwing them on the ground and writing insulting remarks on other pages.

Police chief Rizwan Khan said this had angered the local Muslims.

A mob gathered and began attacking multiple churches and several Christian homes, burning furniture and other household items.

Some members of the Christian community fled their homes to escape the mob.

Police eventually intervened, firing into the air and wielding batons before dispersing the attackers with the help of Muslim clerics and elders.

Authorities also said they have started launching raids in an effort to find all the perpetrators.

Dozens of rioters were arrested.

Police chief Bilal Mehmood told reporters they were also looking for Mr Amir, who went into hiding to escape the mob, and would detain him to determine whether he had desecrated the Koran.

Videos and photos posted on social media show an angry mob descending upon a church, throwing pieces of bricks and burning it.

In another video, two other churches are attacked, their windows broken as attackers throw furniture out and set it on fire.

Several policemen are seen in the videos watching the situation without intervening to stop the vandalism.

In yet another video, a man is seen climbing to the roof of the church and removing the steel cross after repeatedly hitting it with a hammer as the crowd down on the road cheered him on.

Khalid Mukhtar, a local priest, said most of the Christians living in the area had fled to safer places.

“Even my house was burned,” he added.

Mr Mukhtar said there are 17 churches in Jaranwala and he believes most of them were attacked.

The authorities did not immediately confirm that figure.

Mr Khan said additional police forces were later deployed in Jaranwala and an investigation was under way.

He said all involved in the attack would be prosecuted.

“Our first priority was to save the lives of all of the Christians,” he said.

Later in the evening, troops started arriving in Jaranwala to help the police.

Angry Muslims were urged to go back to their homes, allegedly with promises that the man who allegedly desecrated the Koran would soon be arrested.

A delegation of Muslim clerics also arrived in Jaranwala from the city of Lahore to express solidarity with the Christians.

Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan.

Under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death.

While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, often just the accusation can cause riots and incite mobs to violence, lynching and killings.

In one of the worst attacks on Christians, a mob in 2009 burned an estimated 60 homes and killed six Christians in the district of Gojra in Punjab, after accusing them of insulting Islam.

Wednesday’s attack drew nationwide condemnation from top leaders and major political parties.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said he was “gutted” by the images coming out of Faisalabad.

“Stern action would be taken against those who violate law and target minorities. All law enforcement has been asked to apprehend culprits & bring them to justice,” he tweeted.

A senior Christian leader, Bishop Azad Marshall, appealed for help on social media and said he was “deeply pained and distressed”.

“We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our own homeland that has just celebrated independence and freedom,” he tweeted.

Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the rampage, saying: “There is no place for violence in any religion.”

In the southern port city of Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province, dozens of Christians rallied to denounce the attacks in Jaranwala.

Domestic and international human rights groups say blasphemy allegations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities in Pakistan and settle personal scores.

In December 2021, a Muslim mob descended on a sports equipment factory in Pakistan’s Sialkot district, killing a Sri Lankan man and burning his body publicly over allegations of blasphemy.

Read more: Man accused of blasphemy stoned to death by mob in Pakistan

Denmark is taking threats from the Islamist terrorist network al-Qaeda very seriously, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said on Tuesday, according to broadcaster DR.

On Monday, reports had emerged that al-Qaeda was calling on Muslims to launch retaliation attacks for recent desecrations of the Koran in Sweden and Denmark.

The Danish domestic intelligence service PET had earlier confirmed a new threat against Sweden and Denmark, in response to Koran burnings in the two countries.

Several anti-Islamic protests involving the damaging and burning of the Koran in Sweden and Denmark have triggered protests in Muslim-majority countries in recent months.

The reactions in Iraq were particularly strong. In July, the Iraqi government expelled the Swedish ambassador, while demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set fire to it.

The Koran burnings have been carried out by small groups seeking to provoke Muslims. The protests fall under freedom of speech in both countries and are legal.

Al-Qaeda is said to have posted an online statement calling for severe punishment against everyone involved in such acts, including blowing up Swedish and Danish embassies around the world.

But Hummelgaard reassured Danes that they should not be nervous. Police and secret services were keeping a very close eye on the situation, he said.

He reiterated that the government intended to ban the provocative Koran burnings, however it was initially unclear what steps would be taken.

The terror alert level in Denmark has not been raised, despite the multiple threats. It is currently on the fourth of five levels.

Read more: Denmark ponders law to ban burning of the Koran in front of embassies

The man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue has been formally sentenced to death, one day after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.

US District Judge Robert Colville ordered death by lethal injection for Robert Bowers, a 50-year-old lorry driver whose vicious antisemitism led him to shoot his way into a place of worship and target people for practising their faith.

“I have nothing specific that I care to say to Mr Bowers,” Judge Colville said from the bench. “I am however convinced there is nothing I could say to him that might be meaningful.”

Grieving families confronted Bowers in court before Judge Colville pronounced the sentence, describing the pain and suffering he had inflicted, and calling him evil and cowardly.

Bowers, who chose not to speak, spent the entire hearing shuffling through papers and writing, and refused to look those he victimised in the eye, even when invited to do so.

Several survivors spoke of lingering traumas – sleeplessness, fear of crowds and loud noises, and physical and cognitive struggles triggered by the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue.

But survivors and family members, several wearing yarmulkes signifying Jewish observance, also emphasised their resilience in practising the Judaism that the defendant hated.

Alan Mallinger, son of 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, the attack’s oldest victim, told Bowers the synagogue would be rebuilt, the scene of future bar and bat mitzvahs and other rituals of Jewish worship.

“We continue to thrive as Jewish people … stronger than ever,” he declared.

Bowers, from suburban Baldwin, ranted about Jews online before carrying out the attack at Tree of Life, in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, on October 27, 2018.

He killed members of the Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life congregations, which shared the synagogue building. Bowers told police at the scene that “all these Jews must die” and has since expressed pride in the killings.

Jurors were unanimous in finding that Bowers’ attack was motivated by his hatred of Jews, and that he chose Tree of Life for its location in one of the largest and most historic Jewish communities in the nation so he could “maximise the devastation, amplify the harm of his crimes, and instill fear within the local, national, and international Jewish communities”. They also found that Bowers lacked remorse.

The jury rejected defence claims that Bowers has schizophrenia and that his delusions about Jewish people spurred the attack.

“Mr Bowers, you met my beloved husband in the kitchen. Your callous disregard for the person he was repulses me,” said Peg Durachko, wife of 65-year-old Dr Richard Gottfried, a dentist who was shot and killed. “Your hateful act took my soulmate from me.”

Mark Simon, whose parents, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, were killed in the attack, said he still has their bloodied prayer shawl. He said he remains haunted by the 911 call placed by his mother, whom Bowers shot while she was on the line.

“My parents died alone, without any living soul to comfort them or to hold their hand in their last moments,” said Mr Simon, condemning “that defendant” and urging the judge to show him no mercy.

“You will never be forgiven. Never,” Mr Simon told Bowers.

It was the first federal death sentence imposed during the presidency of Joe Biden, who pledged during his 2020 campaign to end capital punishment.

Mr Biden’s Justice Department has placed a moratorium on federal executions and has declined to authorise the death penalty in hundreds of new cases where it could apply.

But federal prosecutors said death was the appropriate punishment for Bowers, citing the vulnerability of his mainly elderly victims and his hate-based targeting of a religious community.

An appeal is expected, meaning that Bowers will likely spend years on federal death row even if the Justice Department lifts the moratorium on executions.

Bowers, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, also shot and wounded seven, including five responding police officers.

The gunman was convicted in June of 63 federal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death.

The synagogue has been closed since the shootings. The Tree of Life congregation plans to overhaul the synagogue complex to house a sanctuary, museum, memorial and centre for fighting antisemitism.

Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers — speaking as a survivor and the “pastor of a wounded congregation” — said in court that many members remain hesitant to return to worship because of trauma or fear. “My beloved synagogue is the 12th victim,” he said.

The judge said he could not begin to understand the pain of the survivors and loved ones of those killed in the attack.

“May their memory be a blessing,” said Judge Colville, invoking the traditional Jewish expression in honor of the deceased.

Read more: Pittsburgh synagogue victims include 97 year old

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has sued a group of researchers, alleging their work highlighting an increase in hate speech on the platform cost the company millions of dollars of advertising revenue.

The suit, filed late on Monday night in US District Court in California, accuses the nonprofit Centre for Countering Digital Hate of violating X’s terms of service by improperly collecting a vast amount of data for its analysis.

The suit also alleges, without offering evidence, that the organisation is funded by foreign governments and media companies who view X as competition.

The legal fight between the tech company, which was acquired by Elon Musk last year, and the centre could have significant implications for a growing number of researchers and advocacy groups that seek to help the public understand how social media is shaping society and culture.

With offices in the US and UK, the centre regularly publishes reports on hate speech, extremism and harmful behavior on social media platforms such as X, TikTok or Facebook.

The organisation has published several reports critical of Musk’s leadership, detailing an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech as well as climate misinformation since his purchase.

In its lawsuit, X alleges the centre violated its terms of service by automatically scraping large amounts of data from the site without the company’s permission.

X also claims the centre improperly accessed internal Twitter data, using log-on credentials it obtained from an employee at a separate company that has a business relationship with X.

Without naming any individuals or companies, the suit says the centre receives funding from foreign governments as well as organisations with ties to “legacy media organisations” that see X as a rival.

The suit claims the centre’s work has cost X tens of millions of dollars in lost ad revenue.

In response to the legal action, Imran Ahmed, the centre’s founder and chief executive, defended its work and accused Mr Musk of using the lawsuit to silence criticism of his leadership, as well as research into the role X plays in spreading misinformation and hate speech.

“Musk is trying to ‘shoot the messenger’ who highlights the toxic content on his platform rather than deal with the toxic environment he’s created,” Mr Ahmed said.

The centre’s 2021 tax forms show it took in 1.4 million dollars (£1.1 million) in revenue. A review of major donors shows several large charities, including the National Philanthropic Trust in the US and the Oak Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust in the UK.

A spokesman for the group said the centre receives no funding from any government entities or tech companies that could be considered competitors to X. The identities of other donors is not revealed in public documents, and the centre declined to provide a list.

Mr Musk is a self-professed free speech absolutist who has welcomed back white supremacists and election deniers to the platform, which he renamed X last month.

He initially had promised that he would allow any speech on his platform that wasn’t illegal. “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” Mr Musk wrote in a tweet last year.

Nevertheless, the billionaire has at times proven sensitive about critical speech directed at him or his companies. Last year, he suspended the accounts of several journalists who covered his takeover of Twitter.

Read more: Security Minister Calls for Social Media Companies to Tackle Radicalisation

Two men burned a copy of the Koran in front of the Swedish parliament on Monday, the latest in a string of demonstrations in which Islam’s holy book was destroyed.

The two trampled on the Koran and then set it on fire, the Swedish news agency TT reported.

The same men have previously attracted attention with Islamophobic actions.

Earlier in July they set fire to a Koran in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, which led to violent protests in several Muslim countries. In Iraq, a mob stormed the Swedish embassy and the government expelled the Swedish ambassador from the country.

During Monday’s action, the men had no visible supporters cheering them on, TT reported. However, there were about 15 counter-demonstrators.

On Sunday evening, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he was in close contact with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen about the Koran burnings and they were seeking ways to legally prevent such Islamophobic acts out of concern for public safety.

A week ago, two men burned a book in front of the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen in an action streamed live on the internet. The men said that the book was the Koran.

“We are in the most serious security situation since World War II, and we know here that both states, state-like actors and individuals can take advantage of the situation,” Kristersson wrote on Instagram.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen spoke on Monday of a “rather high and heightened picture of the terrorist threat.”

The conflict is particularly sensitive for Stockholm, as the Koran burnings were one reason why Turkey had for months blocked Sweden’s bid to join NATO.

But the bar for legal action is high. In Denmark and Sweden, freedom of assembly and demonstration are strongly protected by the constitution. This is one reason why courts in Stockholm have rejected a ban imposed by the police on the Islamophobic protests.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, based in Saudi Arabia, called a special meeting for Monday. In a phone call with Rasmussen, the Danish foreign minister, Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha urged the Scandinavian country to take action to stop the desecrations.

Man Muslims understand the actions as hate crimes not covered by freedom of expression.

In Denmark, politicians are divided. Morten Messerschmidt, the leader of the right-wing populist People’s Party, stressed that the freedom of the West is based on the right to criticize and make fun of a religion.

The leader of the Conservative People’s Party, Søren Pape Poulsen, warned of further demands from Muslim states if the government gave in on the ban on Koran burnings.

“This is only the first step,” he said.

Controversy over what is seen as Islamophobic actions is not new to Denmark.

In 2005, controversial drawings by a Danish cartoonist depicted the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb as a turban. That triggered a wave of violent protests with dozens of deaths, during which Danish embassies were attacked.

The pictorial representation of Mohammed is a taboo in large parts of the Islamic world. In Denmark, where the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard was the main focus, a bitter debate about the limits of freedom of expression followed.

After the artist died in 2021, the newspaper Jyllands-Posten wrote that “Kurt Westergaard’s fight for freedom of expression must not die with him.”

Of the current controversy, Danish Parliament Speaker Søren Gade, defence minister at the time of the cartoon controversy, said Danish interests and the safety of Danes must take precedence.

“I can’t imagine that many Danes lose sleep over the thought that they are not allowed to set fire to holy writings.”

Read more: Denmark ponders law to ban burning of the Koran in front of embassies

Denmark’s foreign minister said on Sunday that the government will seek to make it illegal to desecrate the Koran or other religious holy books in front of foreign embassies in the country.

Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in an interview with the Danish public broadcaster DR that the burning of holy scriptures “only serves the purpose of creating division in a world that actually needs unity”.

“That is why we have decided in the government that we will look at how, in very special situations, we can put an end to mockery of other countries, which is in direct conflict with Danish interests and the safety of the Danes,” he said.

A recent string of public Koran desecrations by a handful of anti-Islam activists in Denmark and neighbouring Sweden have sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries.

Mr Lokke Rasmussen said the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is determined to find “a legal tool” to prohibit such acts without compromising freedom of expression, but he acknowledged that would not be easy.

“There must be room for religious criticism, and we have no thoughts of reintroducing a blasphemy clause,” he told DR.

“But when you stand up in front of a foreign embassy and burn a Koran or burn the Torah scroll in front of the Israeli embassy, it serves no other purpose than to mock.”

His comments followed a statement issued late on Sunday by the Danish government saying freedom of expression is one of the most important values in Danish society.

But, it added, the desecration of the Muslim holy book in Denmark has resulted in the nation being viewed in many places around the world “as a country that facilitates insult and denigration of the cultures, religions, and traditions of other countries”.

The government repeated its condemnation of such desecrations, say they are “deeply offensive and reckless acts committed by few individuals” and “do not represent the values the Danish society is built on”.

In Sweden, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Sunday on Instagram that his government is analysing the legal situation regarding desecration of the Koran and other holy books, given the animosity such acts are stirring up against Sweden.

“We are in the most serious security policy situation since the Second World War,” Mr Kristersson said.

The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation has called an emergency remote meeting on Monday to discuss the Koran burnings in Sweden and Denmark.

Read more: Koran burnt in demonstration outside Stockholm mosque

A Brussels court on Tuesday found six of the 10 suspects guilty of terrorist murder for their role in the 2016 terror attacks which left initially 32 dead and injured hundreds in the Belgian capital.

According to the Belgian news agency Belga, three suspects in the attacks were acquitted of that charge. The sentences will be decided in September.

A 10th suspect is believed to have died in Syria.

According to Belga, the jury also decided to hold the six convicted defendants accountable for the deaths of three additional people who died after the attacks, either after a long illness or by suicide.

That brings the official death toll to 35, the agency said.

Apart from terrorist murder, the 10 defendants were charged with attempted terrorist murder and participation in a terrorist organization.

The suicide bombings carried out on March 22, 2016 targeted the city’s airport and a metro station. They took place at a time when Europe was on edge due to previous terrorist attacks.

Six of the nine defendants put on trial for the Brussels attack already received long prison sentences from a French court for their roles in a 2015 terrorist attack in Paris in which 130 people were killed.

Tuesday’s ruling was handed down after a jury of 12 deliberated for over two weeks.

The most prominent defendant is Salah Abdeslam, who was on the run for months following the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks.

He was previously sentenced to life imprisonment by a French court as well as to 20 years in jail in a separate trial for having shot at police shortly before his 2016 arrest in Brussels.

Mohamed Abrini, also already sentenced for life imprisonment in Paris, is in court in Belgium after having travelled to the airport in Brussels together with one of the suicide bombers, where he abandoned his explosives.

Oussama Atar, who is considered the leading figure of the terrorist network behind the attacks, was again tried in absentia. He is believed to have died in Syria.

Three others suspects have previously been sentenced to 10 to 30 years in prison for their role in the Paris terror attacks.

Tuesday’s verdicts brings a painful chapter of Belgian history closer to an end.

Several of the accused had been surveilled by Belgian authorities ahead of the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels, but authorities failed to prevent the attacks, Belgian media reported.

The suspects faced more than 900 civil plaintiffs, including survivors with lasting physical and psychological injuries, the bereaved relatives of those killed and first responders.

In recent years, victims and victims’ organizations have repeatedly complained about insufficient and cumbersome support offered by the state.

The trial, which lasted nine months, posed a major challenge to Belgium’s judicial system, which is plagued by chronic understaffing and a lack of resources, news agency Belga reported.