A German and an Austrian who joined in al-Qaeda operations in Afghanistan were given long jail terms for terrorism on Friday by a Berlin court.
Prosecutors said the German Islamist triggered a major terror alert in 2009 when he appeared wearing a mask in an internet video and threatened attacks on his homeland.
Ending a year-long trial where both men refused to testify, the court convicted both of membership in a foreign terrorist organization. The German, 27, received nine years' jail and the Austrian, 23, received six years and nine months.
The court found that both had trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It remained unclear if they actually took part in attacks on NATO-led forces in Afghanistan as suggested by prosecutors.
The prosecutors said the German had been a founding member of the Association of German Taliban Mujahedin, an al-Qaeda affiliate which issued its threats in German. Its advent underlined the rise of homegrown jihadists in Germany.
The German was nabbed in March 2011 in Vienna and extradited to Germany. The Austrian was arrested two months later.