Three Algerian extremists received life sentences from a local court here Saturday on charges of joining terrorist groups and abducting German tourists, state media reported, according to Xinhua.
The three extremists, who remained at large, were accused of kidnapping foreign nationals in southeastern Algeria's Illizi Province for ransoms, local news agency reported.
The trial of a fourth extremist who was also accused of the crime was postponed, the report said.
The four were all subordinates of Amar Saifi, popularly known as El Para, a leading light of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, which pledged allegiance to the Al Qaeda in September 2006.
The extremists have been active in the border regions between the northern African countries of Algeria, Mali, Niger, Libya and Chad, according to the report.
Algeria, Mali, Niger and northwestern Africa's Mauritania had decided to launch a massive military operation, which may started next month and last about six months, against the Al Qaeda branch in the northern Africa's Maghreb region, the Algerian newspaper Al Khabar and other media reported earlier this month.
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