Two Israeli Arabs, Ukrainian Get Life Sentences For Arms Smuggling

State media report that an Egyptian court has sentenced two Israeli Arabs and a Ukrainian to life imprisonment after convicting them of smuggling a machine gun and ammunition across the Israeli border into Egypt.

The three were also fined around $10,000 each.

The Ukrainian and one of the Israelis were arrested in November; the third suspect was tried in absentia.

Prosecutors said the Ukrainian, the manager of a tourism company in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, had ordered the weapon from one of the Israeli defendants.

The Ukrainian reportedly claimed he had ordered the weapon for personal protection.

With AP, dpa, and Reuters reports