French cement maker convicted of financing terror groups to keep its Syria plant working

Lafarge fined more than 1m and its former boss jailed for paying nearly 5.6m to groups including Islamic State

A French court has fined the cement group Lafarge more than 1m (870,000) and sentenced its former boss to six years in prison for paying protection money to Islamic State and other terror groups to maintain its business in war-torn Syria from 2013 to 2014.

The ruling follows a 2022 case in the United States in which the French firm pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to US-designated terrorist" organisations and agreed to pay a $778m fine (580m) - the first time a company had faced the charge.