2 men with al-Qaeda ties convicted in Germany

A German court has convicted two 32-year-old men of supporting al-Qaeda and sentenced them to prison terms.

A German court has convicted two 32-year-old men of supporting al-Qaeda and sentenced them to prison terms.

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Court spokesman Fabian Scherf said the state court in the city of Koblenz today convicted Omer Ozdemir of membership in a terrorist organisation and supporting al-Qaeda. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

The Turkish national who grew up in Germany had confessed that he underwent training at a terrorist camp in Pakistan twice.

Scherf said that his co-defendant, Sermet Ilgen, was found guilty of lesser charges and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

The court convicted both men for procuring money and equipment such as body armour, a laptop and binoculars for al-Qaeda in 2005 and 2006.