Pakistan army convicts 5 for links with extremists
Aug 3, 2012, 12:59 PM
ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan’s army says a military court has convicted five officers of links with a banned extremist group.
The army said in a statement Friday that the court sentenced Brigadier Ali Khan to five years in prison.
A brigadier is the equivalent of a one-star general.
The army did not give details of the case. The officers were rounded up in May 2011 for their links with the Hizb-ut-Tahrir group.
Four army majors received sentences ranging from six months to three years.
The officers have the right to appeal.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir is an Islamist organization that wants to reestablish the caliphate, the administrative structure that once governed a portion section of the Muslim world. It insists it does not advocate violence in achieving its goals.
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