Would-be embassy bomber sentenced to nine years

sydney (jta) | An Australian recruited by al-Qaida was jailed for planning to bomb the country’s Israeli Embassy.

An Australian court sentenced Jack Roche, 50, to nine years in prison on Tuesday, June 1, after he confessed to the plot.

Roche, a British-born Muslim convert, joined Osama bin Laden’s group during a 2000 trip to Afghanistan. Australian authorities arrested him in 2002.

Vilnius shul shuts amid dispute

vilnius (jta) | The only synagogue in Vilnius has been closed since last week as a result of an internecine dispute.

The synagogue in the Lithuanian capital, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in September, was closed by Simonas Alperavicius, the community president, because of a dispute over the post of chief rabbi of Lithuania’s small Jewish community. Alperavicius said the step was a temporary measure intended to “show who is the master in the synagogue.”

The decision was made last week after fist-fighting broke out in the synagogue between two groups of worshippers who wanted to have the other’s rabbi removed from the shul. The service was also interrupted by police, who were called in by one of the groups.