Riyadh, Sep 1 (IANS): A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a preacher to five years in jail for praising the Islamic State (IS) Sunni militant organisation during an Eid sermon at a mosque in Riyadh in 2013, a media report said Monday.

Riyadh's special criminal court also convicted the preacher, who was not named, of financially supporting terrorism, and slapped a five-year travel ban on him, an Arab News report said.

The preacher had earlier received a letter from the ministry of Islamic affairs ordering him to stop delivering sermons at the mosque.

He was arrested at the end of the sermon he had delivered. The preacher had called on Islamic scholars and Muslim community to support young people fighting in "revolutions".

The lawyer of the preacher said that they would appeal against the ruling in a higher court.

A Saudi royal decree issued earlier this year calls for imprisoning anyone involved in fighting abroad for three to 20 years.