3 Suspected Hizbullah Members Cleared of Nigeria Terror Charges

Three Lebanese nationals suspected of being Hizbullah members were cleared of terrorism charges in Nigeria on Friday but one of the accused was convicted of a weapons offence and jailed for life.

Mustapha Fawaz, Abdallah Thahini and Talal Ahmad Roda were arrested in May after the discovery of an arms cache in a residence in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

They were accused of plotting attacks against Western and Israeli targets in Nigeria but denied the accusations.

Federal High Court Judge Adeniyi Adetokunbo Ademola said Hizbullah "is not an international terrorist organization in Nigeria" and therefore membership is not criminal.

He said there was "no evidence" that the group was planning an attack or had received "terrorism training" as the prosecution alleged.

All three men were also acquitted of money laundering charges.

But Roda was found guilty of conspiracy to import weapons into the country and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Defense lawyer for all three men Ahmed Raji told reporters after the hearing: "We are happy and slightly not comfortable with respect to the third accused (Roda).

"The most important thing is that the grave aspect of the charges, that is terrorism, was knocked out. We are happy about that."

Raji said he would consult with Roda about a possible appeal against his conviction and sentence and added: "Speaking for myself, I think an appeal is worthwhile."

The trial featured several unexpected twists, including a testimony from Roda that an extremist cell in Nigeria had plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador.

In August, Fawaz testified that he had been harshly interrogated by Israeli security agents after his arrest.

He said the grilling was carried out by "six Israeli Mossad agents and one masked white man" who were primarily concerned with his contacts in Lebanon and demanded details of where weapons were stored in his home country.

Thahini testified that he collapsed after being denied sleep for five days in a similar interrogation by purported Israeli agents.

Israel raised concerns over alleged efforts by Hizbullah members to plan attacks in west Africa after the group was arrested.

Fawaz owns a popular amusement park in the capital Abuja called Wonderland, which the court ordered should be re-opened after the ruling.

He and Thahini were immediately released while Fawaz was escorted away in handcuffs, an Agence France Presse reporter in the court said.

Nigerian intelligence agents escorted journalists to a property in Kano on May 30 and showed them a bunker where a massive haul of weapons had been stored.

The spy chief in Kano, Bassey Etang, described the room as a "Hizbullah armory" -- a statement that raised eyebrows among some analysts.

He said investigations were needed to uncover potential links between the "Hizbullah cell" and Boko Haram, the extremist Islamist group that has killed thousands in northern Nigeria since 2009.

There had previously never been any discussion of a connection between the party and the Nigerian insurgents and experts voiced strong doubts that such ties existed.

The court verdict is a fresh blow to Nigeria's main intelligence branch, the Department of State Services, which in September claimed that Boko Haram attacked troops outside a government building in Abuja.

Subsequent evidence, however, suggested the clash involved security officers and a group of squatters.

In a separate matter, Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour was informed by Lebanon's Charge d'Affairs in Abuja that Hassan Mohammed Merhi, a Lebanese national, has died of natural causes in Nigeria.

"The transfer of his body to Beirut is being arranged," the diplomat said.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is home to a sizable Lebanese population, including in the mainly Muslim north.