A French court has sentenced an Algerian-born nuclear physicist to five years in prison for his role in plotting terrorism with Al Qaeda's north African wing.

The court sentenced Adlene Hicheur, a former researcher at Switzerland's CERN laboratory, after a trial convicted him of "criminal association with a view to plotting terrorist attacks."

Hicheur, who has been behind bars since he was arrested in October 2009, could have received a maximum 10 years in prison.