Lebanon jails two Australians on terror charges

BEIRUT - Lebanon's military court has sentenced two Australian nationals to prison terms after convicting them of terror-related activities.

The court sentenced Salih Jamal, a Jordanian-born Australian, to five years in jail on charges of possession of weapons and explosives, forging an Australian passport, forming a group and planning acts that endangered state security.

It also sentenced to a year in jail Lebanese-born Australian Haitham Melhem in the same case.

The two men were charged last May.

A Beirut court in 2003 sentenced two Australian brothers in absentia to 10 years in jail for terror-related offences.

Lebanon and Syria, which has broad influence over Lebanese security, are under pressure to prove they are cooperating in the US-led war on terror.

- REUTERS