The Obama administration is sending prosecutors and law enforcement advisers abroad , and urging other countries to overhaul their laws to make it easier to prosecute people who return after being involved in terrorism . Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that the Justice Department has dispatched lawyers to 14 countries -- four in the Balkan region and 10 in North Africa and the Middle East -- to work with policymakers there . `` These personnel will provide critical assistance to our allies in order to help prosecute those who return from the Syrian region bent on committing acts of terrorism , '' Holder said at press conference . His comments came after Holder met with his European counterparts to discuss the issue . Holder said the State Department 's Bureau of Counterterrorism is also sending staffers to those regions to aid what will be a `` government-wide effort . '' One objective is to ramp up international cooperation in areas such as `` information sharing , investigations and prosecutions , and countering violent extremism , '' Holder said . `` Our goal is to build the capacity to fight foreign terrorist fighters within the rule of law -- so we can the stop flow of fighters into conflict regions , stem the tide of violence and aggressively combat violent extremism , '' Holder said . `` We can succeed only as partners . '' The move comes the same day a French court sentenced a 28-year-old man to seven years in prison for participating in jihad in Syria . Flavien Moreau is the first French citizen to be tried for joining an Islamist group in Syria , according to Elisabeth Allanic , spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor 's office . Moreau 's lawyer , Pierre Darkanian , told CNN that his client had been to Syria in November 2012 `` for less than 10 days . '' According to Darkanian , Moreau joined a group fighting against President Bashar al-Assad , but did not participate in combat . `` He wanted to bring first-aid care , '' the lawyer said . A heavy smoker , Moreau could n't stand the smoking restrictions in place in the group and came back to France partly to buy Nicorette gum . He was arrested a few weeks later , in January 2013 . Darkanian called the sentence `` unjustified . '' `` My client is being sentenced purely on the basis of intentions , '' he said . `` Materially , he did not commit any unlawful acts . '' Moreau was among more than 900 French nationals the government believes fought in Syria and Iraq . Farid Djebbar , 26 , was sentenced to 30 months in jail as part of the same trial , said his lawyer , Daphne Pugliesi . Djebbar had maintained correspondence with Moreau and received money from him . He had consulted various jihadist websites , including some content on making bombs , authorities said . `` This is a very tough verdict . Since this is the first jihadist trial , they wanted to hit very strong and make an example , '' Pugliesi said . Djebbar wo n't appeal . `` He is tired and he knows that justice wo n't listen to him , '' his lawyer said . The French Parliament recently passed new anti-terrorism legislation to respond to the increasing concern about French nationals traveling to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS or other jihadist groups . The legislation is aimed at preventing anyone from entering or exiting French territory if there are strong reasons to believe that there is intent to travel to take part in terror-related activities , war crimes or crimes against humanity . The travel ban could include the confiscation of passports and identification cards . Through the new law , French authorities can also require Internet providers to block content or access to websites calling to conduct or praising terror acts . More than 100 of the foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria have come from the United States , according to intelligence estimates ; hundreds more from Europe . Holder interview : What we learned .
Justice Department dispatches lawyers to 14 countries to help prosecute foreign terrorists . The U.S. is also pushing other countries to change their laws to protect terrorists . It urges international ` ` information gathering , investigations and prosecutions ''