Algerian Rai Star Cheb Mami Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

Cheb Mami, the "Prince of Rai," was sentenced today in France to five years in prison, reports the New York Times. Cheb Mami, whose real name is Ahmed Khelifati Mohammed, along with three accomplices, abducted his former lover, whose name has been withheld, in 2005. Upon learning that she was pregnant, he and his accomplices attempted to perform an abortion on the woman, though they were unsuccessful and she later had the child, who is now three years old. Cheb Mami, who is best known in the Western world for his work with Sting on the song "Desert Rose," had been on the run in Algeria for two years before he voluntarily turned himself in for his trial in France earlier this week.

Image (c) Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images, 2003