Jihadi leader sentenced in France

The self-proclaimed "emir," Mohamed Achamlane, was declared guilty and given a 9-year prison sentence on Friday on charges of recruiting for jihad, plotting terror attack and praising terrorism.

In addition to the 37-year old Achamlane, the Paris court also convicted 13 more members of the group for "criminal conspiracy related to a terrorist enterprise."

Their trial started in June, after police raided group members' homes and found weapons, as well as a file belonging to Achamlane with possible targets. The list also mentioned Jewish supermarkets.

Fears of Islamist terrorism has been on the rise following the January massacre at the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" and, most recently, the beheading of a factory employee near Lyon by Yassin Salhi, who reportedly has ties to Forsane Alizza.

Social network warriors

The group was established in 2010, with the proclaimed goal of fighting Islamophobia. It soon drew attention from the authorities by posting provocative propaganda videos online, training its members to fight and openly supporting jihad.

In 2011, the group staged several protests against the French law prohibiting women from wearing the burqa in public.

Forsane Alizza was officially banned in 2012, after posting jihadist propaganda on their website, and most of their members were arrested or put under surveillance.

Radical versus 'authentic' Islam

During the trial, Achamlane tried to explain inflammatory videos he posted in which he used phrases such as "By all-powerful Allah, we will put scars on France."

"We wanted to make a provocative video with a wall of Kalashnikovs and my bearded head to redress the balance," he said, stressing that he felt Muslims were "excluded" from French society.

"There is no radical or moderate Islam," he added. "There is only authentic Islam."

Achamlane, who is a French citizen, also denied any plans to conduct attacks and said that Forsane Alizza's aim was simply to "unite young Muslims".

dj/kms (AP, Reuters, APF)