The Koblenz court on Thursday convicted a Syrian-born Islamic militant on 44 accounts of recruiting for "foreign terrorist networks" and two accounts of supporting foreign terrorist groups and sentenced him to five years in prison.

The 26-year-old man, identified as Hussam S., had been accused of posting jihadist propaganda on the Internet in an attempt to attract new members to al Qaeda.

The presiding judge in the case, Andreas Völpel, said "the suspect followed the slogans of jihadist ringleaders such as Osama bin Laden."

According to prosecutors, Hussam S. was the only person in Germany maintaining online forums for recruiting al Qaeda supporters. He was born in Syria and has lived in Germany since 1990.

mz/ncy (dpa, dapd)