A Dutch court has acquitted 12 men charged with recruiting militants into al-Qaeda to wage "holy war" on non-Muslims because of insufficient evidence.
Two of the 12 men, a Frenchman identified as A. Oumakhlouf and Algerian T. Benmimoun, were given sentences of two and four months respectively on the comparatively minor charges of possessing false travel documents.
The judges said there was not enough evidence to support the prosecution's allegations the suspects formed a criminal organisation involved in drug smuggling and forging identity documents to organise and fund Muslim jihad warriors destined to join the al-Qaeda network.
The decision is a huge setback for the prosecution, which had asked for sentences of up to three years in prison in the high-profile trial. Prosecutors said they would appeal.
The prosecution claimed the men actively recruited and trained people to wage Islamic jihad or holy war against non-Muslims at a time when The Netherlands was "at war" with the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the al-Qaeda network after the September 11th attacks in the United States.
The judges ordered all suspects should be freed because the time the two convicted men served in remand surpassed their sentences.
The Dutch immigration services immediately remanded seven of the men in custody because they are staying illegally in the country.
AFP