"Austria is home to roughly half a million Muslims or 6 percent of the population, and about 100 are estimated to be fighting Assad's government."
VIENNA (Reuters) - A man accused of traveling to Syria to receive weapons training from Islamist militants was sentenced in Austria on Tuesday to 21 months in jail, in the latest case to highlight the lure of the Syrian conflict for radicalized young men based in Europe.
The Vienna-based 21-year-old had denied charges of joining a terrorist organization, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The unnamed defendant was arrested in December as he returned to Austria from what he had described as a holiday in his birthplace of Turkey. Prosecutors said he instead want to a training camp on the Syrian-Turkish border.
Judge Norbert Gerstberger said the man joined up with the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's Syrian wing, and got "at least ideological instruction and basic weapons training" at a camp north of Aleppo, although he was a low-level participant, the Austria Press Agency reported.
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