Riyadh, Feb 24 (IANS): The special criminal court in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh has awarded a 23-year jail term to a terrorist accused of plotting the assassination of the emir, head cleric of the Muslim holy site Makkah, media reported Tuesday.

The convict was one of the 17 who were sentenced to jail by the court Monday, the Saudi Gazette reported. The convicts belonged to two terror groups.

The plot to kill the emir involved targeting him with a laser device while he met students at a university graduation ceremony. The terrorist, however, abandoned the plot following a change in the emir's schedule.

The charges against the convict also included sending two bags full of weapons from Riyadh to Dammam, travelling to Jordan to hand over $250,000 to an Al Qaeda terrorist who was operating from Iraq, entering Iraq with a fake passport to meet an Al-Qaeda leader, and travelling abroad to meet a Syrian to make investments worth $100 million in the Saudi Arabia so that its profits could be used for terror funding.

Another terror suspect was awarded 20 years in jail and a travel ban was imposed on him after his conviction in several crimes, including travelling to conflict zones in Chechnya and taking part in fighting.