Kosovo jails five for planning to pledge loyalty to Islamic state

PRISTINA (Reuters) - A Kosovo court sent five people to prison for terms ranging from four to 13 years on terrorism charges for planning to pledge loyalty to the Islamic State and post a video of the event on the internet. "Their aim was to read the oath of the terrorist organisation Islamic State and publish it on the Internet to show the presence of ISIS in Kosovo," a judge said while reading the verdict in a Pristina court. He said an automatic rifle, masks, gloves and an ISIS flag were found when police arrested the defendants by an artificial lake near the capital last year. The defendants were initially suspected of contaminating the water in Lake Badovc, which supplies half of Pristina with drinking water, but those charges were dropped after authorities found the water was clean. Police say around 300 Kosovars have joined Islamic State and more than 50 have been killed. More than 100 people in Kosovo have been arrested or are under investigation for recruiting for Islamic State or fighting in Syria and Iraq. Authorities say that so far this year no one has gone to join Islamic State in Syria or Iraq. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Daria Sito-Sucic and Tom Heneghan)