A man has been jailed for six years for plotting to "hunt down" and kill a British soldier.
London's Southwark Crown Court heard that British-born Abu Mansha had planned to kill or harm the soldier in revenge for his success in Iraq.
Cpl Mark Byles, 34, was awarded the Military Cross after leading an attack in which five insurgents died.
Mansha, 21, from Thamesmead, south London, had denied a charge under the Terrorism Act.
The market trader, who was said to have been obsessed with al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, had earlier been convicted of possessing a document containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
'Utter incompetent'
During a search of Mansha's flat, police recovered a gun, newspaper cuttings about the soldier's exploits, and a stash of DVDs containing "virulent anti-West propaganda".
There was also a poem by the defendant describing President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair as "dirty pigs".
Mansha had argued he was using the cuttings and DVDs for journalistic purposes.
His defence barrister described Mansha as an "utter incompetent", adding: "This man is not really into terrorism, not in the way the public understands that."
During the two-week trial, Cpl Byles spoke from behind a screen about a bloody confrontation in Amara in May 2004.
"You crossed the boundary into terrorism"
"I had two choices: stay there and be cut to pieces... or put down concentrated fire and attack the positions, which is what I did," said the soldier, who has served for 13 years.
Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said information including the corporal's past address was in Mansha's handwriting, and he had requested information about a rich Jewish man and the Hindu owner of a cash-and-carry business.
Sentencing Mansha, he told him: "You have never faced a charge for conspiracy to kill or cause harm and I do not sentence you for that, but when that information came into your possession and was recorded for you, you crossed the boundary into terrorism."
After the case, Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist branch, said Mansha had researched the personal details of several people.
"Put this together with the other material that was found when he was arrested, and it is obvious that he was involved in terrorist targeting."
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