Koblenz, Germany  - Two men went on trial in Germany Monday on charges of membership in al-Qaeda, the terrorist network.

Working for a 47-year-old Islamist who has already been convicted in Germany on similar charges, both allegedly raised funds for and sent equipment to the Islamists, the state superior court in the western city of Koblenz was told.

The men, both aged 31, lived near the industrial city of Stuttgart before their arrest. One of the men, Omer O, allegedly trained at a terrorists' camp somewhere in the Afghan-Pakistani border zone in 2006.

The indictment said O and the other accused, Sermet I, had identified with al-Qaeda's terrorist ideology in or before summer 2004. It said that after training, O was sent back to Germany to recruit more "fighters" for the cause.

The man described as head of their al-Qaeda cell was sent to prison in July for eight years.

Al-Qaeda was founded by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s.

The full surnames of the accused have been withheld under news media privacy guidelines in Germany. (dpa)