JEDDAH: The Special Criminal Court has sentenced a Saudi citizen to 20 years in prison for leading the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, one of the branches of the Al-Qaeda terror group.

The accused reluctantly turned himself in to Saudi authorities in Pakistan due to a serious injury he sustained which caused him permanent disability.

The accused, Naj Al-Khair, 33, once led the Azzam Brigades and spent time in Iran. Additionally, he received intensive training in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan. Later, he was hit by a missile launched by a US drone in Waziristan, on the Pakistan-Afghan border.

But he returned to Saudi Arabia due to permanent disability and after being abandoned by his colleagues in the Abdullah Azzam Brigades who appointed Majid Al-Majid in his place. Majid died of an illness in Beirut in 2013.

The accused contacted his family who asked authorities for help in repatriating their son who was dying in Waziristan at the time. He was accompanied by his Egyptian wife.

Following his injury, the accused was moved to Pakistan from where he was transferred to Riyadh on a medical evacuation plane. He was treated in one of the hospitals in Riyadh and later moved to prison where he was given medical care by doctors of different specialties.

The accused received intensive training in Iran and how to use electronic gadgets in explosive operations. He made Iran the center of his operations and acted as an intermediary between the leaderships of the Al-Qaeda group and its members.