Algerian expelled from UK jailed for terror links

ALGIERS (Reuters) - An Algerian expelled from Britain this year after being arrested for embezzlement was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday on terrorism charges, Algerian state news agency APS reported.

Britain repatriated Dendani Reda on January 20 and Algerian police then identified him as Mihoubi Sofiane, a prominent member of a terrorist group active in Britain led by Makhlouf Ammar, APS cited court documents as saying.

The criminal court in Algiers jailed Reda, 32, for membership of a terrorist organisation active abroad.

Reda learned to use weapons and make explosives and poisons in Afghanistan before travelling to Britain where he collected money using forged bank cards and forwarded it to Chechen fighters and the Taliban in Afghanistan, APS said.

British police arrested Reda and a court sentenced him to three years in prison for embezzlement, then expelled him to Algeria.

Reda denied being a member of a terrorist group and said no charges were brought against him in Britain and he had returned to Algeria of his own free will, according to APS.

It was not immediately clear if Reda was among a group of unnamed Algerians deported by Britain early this year and cited by human rights group Amnesty International as being at risk of torture in their home country.

Last year, London and Algiers agreed a framework to make it easier to deport individuals based on assurances from the north African country that suspects would not be mistreated.

(Writing by Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Charles Dick)