Dr Shakoor's cousin, Abdul Sattar Ishaqani, spoke to BBC Essex from Karachi, Pakistan, and said the family had been in the UK for four to five years.

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Abu Risha took over as head of the province's Awakening Council after his brother Sheikh Abdul Sattar -- also known as Abu Risha -- was assassinated in 2007.

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Judge Abdul Sattar al-Beeraqdar, spokesman for Iraq's Higher Judicial Council, said the court reduced al-Zaidi's sentence because he is young and had no previous criminal record.

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