Thomson Reuters
Mehdi Nemmouche allegedly fought alongside jihadist rebels in Syria before returning to Europe.
(Belgian federal police/Associated Press)
A Belgian court says a Frenchman suspected of working for the Islamic State group in Syria has been found guilty of gunning down four people at a Jewish museum in 2014, making him the first European foreign fighter to be convicted of terror offences.
Judge Laurence Massart read the jury's verdict issued Thursday that said "Mehdi Nemmouche is guilty of committing four terrorist murders."
An Israeli couple and two staffers at the museum in Brussels were killed on May 24, 2014.
The museum shooting crystalized fears that European extremists would use combat experience from places like Syria to sow terror back home.
This unfortunate report doesn't make clear when Nemmouche went to Syria or when he returned, although it appears he went and returned before May 2014, that is pretty early in the ISIS assault on Syria and was when they were winning. It seems odd that he would leave when they appeared to have the caliphate in site. But then, radical Islamists aren't know for making logical decisions.
The 33-year-old Nemmouche sat impassively while the verdict was read.
Nemmouche could face up to 30 years in prison. The judge is expected to impose the sentence Friday.
An alleged accomplice, Nacer Bendrer, was found guilty of supplying the revolver and assault rifle used in the slayings.
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