German Court Jails German-Moroccan for al-Nusra Link

A German court on Monday sentenced a 29-year-old German-Moroccan man to five years in jail over his membership in the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front.

Soufiane K. had traveled in 2013 with his wife and four children to Syria where he underwent weapons training with al-Nusra Front, the court in Frankfurt said in a statement.

He also helped distribute humanitarian supplies for the jihadist group, added the court.

He was arrested in October 2014, several months after his return to Germany, and has since been in police custody.

The court said it based its ruling on testimony by Andrea B., who had traveled with her two children to Syria in January 2014 to become the second wife of the defendant.

The witness came into contact with Soufiane K.'s wife through Facebook in December 2013, and was convinced that "she should travel to Syria to live alongside mujahideens fighting Syrian government troops," the court said.

But she returned to Germany along with her children in May 2014, because "it was too dangerous there for her and her children," the court said.

Germany's domestic spy agency estimates that around 750 Islamists have left the country to join jihadists in Syria and Iraq, and that one in three has returned, fueling fears about the threat they pose on German soil.