Australia Sentences 5 in Terror Case

A court has sentenced five Muslim men to prison terms of 23 to 28 years in Australia's largest terrorist conspiracy.

Justice Anthony Whealy of the New South Wales Supreme Court handed down the sentences Monday, saying the men were motivated by "intolerant, inflexible religious conviction."

The men, aged 25 to 44, were found guilty last October of conspiring to commit an act, or acts, in preparation for a terrorist act between July 2004 and November 2005. They had stockpiled explosive chemicals and firearms to attack an unknown target.

Whealy said the men had shown contempt for the Australian government, its leaders and laws.

The men had faced a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Whealy has restricted the media from publishing the men's names.