Lebanon sentences three for plotting to kill Libyan premier

Beirut  - A Lebanese military court has sentenced three men to life in prison with hard labour for plotting to assassinate Libya's prime minister, Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi, media reports said Sunday.

Military Examining Magistrate Fadi Sawwan handed down sentence against Lebanese national Mehdi al-Hajj Hasan and his son, Haidar, and Libyan national Abdel Salam Mohammed.

The men were convicted of having when placed explosive charges inside a package dispatched to al-Mahmudi in Libya last June.

The Lebanese intelligence intercepted the parcel before it could be shipped out of the country.

The two Lebanese men had reportedly sought to avenge the disappearance of Lebanese Shiite Imam Moussa Sadr during a trip to Libya in 1978.

Lebanon's Shiites hold Libya responsible for the disappearance of the Iranian-born founder of Lebanon's Amal movement. The North African state denies involvement and has said Sadr was had departed for Italy when he went missing. dpa