A Tunisian court has jailed 19 men for up to eight years for having links to al Qaeda's North Africa wing, a defence lawyer said on Sunday. "Tunis court judge Hedi Ayari announced the verdict to jail the 19 men between one and eight years for having links with al Qaeda and setting up a Jihadist cell," lawyer Samir Dylo Said, adding the verdict was pronounced on Saturday. The defendants, who were arrested in late 2006, had pleaded not guilty. Local lawyers say about 1,000 people have been arrested since 2003 on terrorism charges including recruiting fighters for the Iraqi insurgency against U.S.-led forces. Fourteen gunmen were killed in and around Tunis in clashes in late 2006 and early 2007, rare breaches of security in a country most Europeans know only as a tranquil holiday destination. Thirty Tunisian Islamists said by police to have been involved in the clashes were found guilty in December of belonging to a terrorist group. One was sentenced to death while the remainder were sentenced to long prison terms.