A Dutch court has sentencedthe self-confessed killer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh to life in jail.

Mohammed Bouyeri, anAmsterdam-born Muslim, was convicted of killing van Gogh as he cycled to workin Amsterdam on Nov. 2, 2004. He was found guilty of shooting and stabbing vanGogh, slashing his throat and pinning a note to his body with a knife.

Van Gogh was known for hisoutspoken criticism of Islam. His controversial film Submission criticised the treatment ofwomen under Islam.

Judge Udo Willem Bentincktold the court Bouyeri had murdered van Gogh in a gruesome manner and shown noremorse. The murder had "terrorist intent," he said.

"The murder of Theo vanGogh provoked a wave of revulsion and disdain in the Netherlands. Theo van Goghwas mercilessly slaughtered," the judge told a packed hearing of AmsterdamDistrict Court.

Bouyeri was also foundguilty of the attempted murder of 8 police officers and 2 bystanders, illegalweapon and munitions possession and threatening Somali-born Dutch politicianAyaan Hirsi Ali in a note pinned to van Gogh's body.

Bouyeri killed van Goghbecause he regarded the film director as an "enemy of Islam," thejudge concluded.

Bouyeri, 27, confessed tothe murder during his trial earlier this month, saying he had been motivated byhis religious convictions.

The five-page note leftpinned to van Gogh's body quoted the Koran and was addressed to Ayaan HirsiAli, who wrote the script for van Gogh's film Submission about violenceagainst women.