[JURIST] An Italian appeals court on Monday affirmed the conviction of Egyptian Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed [CBC profile] for belonging to an international terrorist network, but reduced his sentence from ten years to eight. Ahmed was convicted on charges separate from those brought against him for his role in the 2004 Madrid train bombings [JURIST news archive]. Prosecutors had alleged that Ahmed helped plan [JURIST report] terrorist attacks in Italy and to recruit extremists in Milan. His trial started [JURIST report] in January.

After his conviction late last year, Ahmed was extradited to Spain, where he and 27 co-defendants were charged with 192 counts of murder and upwards of 1,800 counts of attempted murder related to the March 11, 2004 bombings, which killed 191 people and injured almost 2000 more. Spain's National Court announced [JURIST report] earlier this month that verdicts and sentences for all defendants would be announced on Wednesday. Prosecutors are seeking jail sentences for eight suspected ringleaders of nearly 39,000 years each [JURIST report], although the maximum time they could serve under Spanish law is 40 years. The defendants have all protested their innocence and condemned the attacks. Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.