Jordan Jails Man for Joining Syria Jihadists

A Jordanian man was sent to jail on Monday for joining the al-Qaida-linked Al-Nusra Front to fight against the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a judicial official said.

The military state security court initially sentenced the man to five years in prison but immediately halved the prison term, the official told Agence France Presse.

"He was charged with carrying out acts that the government does not approve and that would expose Jordan to the risk of acts of aggression and revenge," he added, asking not to be named.

"The convict was arrested in February after he returned from Syria for health reasons."

Jordan has jailed dozens of men convicted of trying enter Syria to fight alongside rebel forces.

Jordan, home to more than 500,000 Syrian refugees, denies accusations by the Damascus regime that the kingdom has opened up its borders to jihadist fighters.

Britain's Daily Telegraph on Monday cited a defense study as showing that jihadists and members of hardline Islamist groups make up almost half of forces fighting against Assad -- estimated at about a total of 100,000.

The analysis by defense consultancy IHS Jane's estimates that around 10,000 are jihadists fighting for groups linked to al-Qaida and another 30,000 to 35,000 are hardline Islamists, who differ from jihadists in that they are concentrated only on the Syrian conflict, and not on the global Islamist fight.