A 37-year-old German national was sentenced to six years prison Tuesday for training as a terrorist with al-Qaeda and another Islamist group in the mountains of Afghanistan, dpa reported. Ahmad S, who is of Afghan extraction, "wanted to take part in a holy war, a jihad," presiding judge Angelika Blettner told the court in Koblenz in the west of Germany as she announced the verdict. US forces captured the man, whose full surname was withheld under privacy guidelines for German media, in July 2010 in Kabul. He was sent home to stand trial for membership in a terrorist group. He later renounced violence and gave detailed testimony about the terrorists. The judge said it was not proven that he took part in any terrorist attacks, but he had to go to jail for serving time with al-Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. His entire period in captivity will be credited to the jail term. No appeal was likely, said the man's lawyer.
