TEL AVIV, Israel, June 6 (UPI) -- An Israeli court Sunday sentenced Marwan Barghouti, a prominent Palestinian activist, to five consecutive life terms and for attacks on Israel.
The BBC reported that an Israeli court in Tel Aviv had convicted Barghouti, a member of the elected Palestinian Legislative Council, of responsibility for four suicide attacks claimed by Fatah's armed wing, al-Aqsa Brigades.
Barghouti, the highest ranking Palestinian official to be tried by an Israeli court, said he did not recognize the legitimacy of the trial, because it represented Israel's "illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories."
The 45-year-old Barghouti, who had been seen as a potential successor to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, denied any part in ambushes staged by his Fatah faction that killed five people in 2001 and 2002.
