SARGODHA, Pakistan - Five American men were convicted on Thursday on terror charges by a Pakistani court and sentenced to 10 years in prison in a case that has heightened concerns about Westerners traveling to Pakistan to contact al-Qaida and other Islamist extremist groups.

The trial of the young Muslim men from the Washington, DC, area was sensitive for the United States, which has a duty to ensure justice for its citizens abroad but also has pushed Pakistan to crack down on militancy.

The men were arrested in Pakistan in December after their families reported them missing. Prosecutors said e-mail records and witness statements proved they were plotting terror attacks in Pakistan and conspired to wage war against nations allied with it, a reference to Afghanistan, where the men were alleged to have been traveling.