Lebanese court sentences extremist Australian

An Australian man who had his passport canceled by Australia’s intelligence agency over terrorism concerns has been convicted in a Lebanese court after allegedly traveling to Pakistan to train with an extremist group, The Australian newspaper reported Monday. The newspaper reported that Wiam Chaouk, 23, had his Australian passport canceled after a request from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, which was apparently concerned about his alleged extremist links. His lawyer, Noufal Abboud, said his client had been convicted of a passport offense, the paper added. Abboud added that ASIO’s request for authorities to revoke Chaouk’s passport upon arrival in Lebanon prompted the need for his client to obtain a fake Moroccan passport. “He then left Lebanon using a smuggler, but at some stage en route he needed a passport to enter Pakistan, and it was there and then the smuggler provided him with the false passport,” Abboud told The Australian. Chaouk has been sentenced by the Permanent Military Court to one year in jail, and is due for release in two months. Two co-conspiratorswere sentenced with him.