A Montreal man convicted of firebombing a Jewish school was sentenced to four years in prison for what a judge described as a terrorist act.

Azim Ibragimov, 25, pleaded guilty earlier this year to firebombing the Skver-Toldos Orthodox Jewish Boys School in Outremont in 2006 and attempting to attack the Snowdon YM-YWHA (Young Men's–Young Women's Hebrew Association) the following year.

He also pleaded guilty to uttering threats in the form of letters that claimed the crimes were committed in the name of Islamic Jihad, a militant group that vows to destroy Israel and set up an Islamic Palestinian state.

The letters also hinted there were more incidents to come.

The arson attack was racist and hateful and amounted to terrorism, Quebec Judge Gilles Cadieux said in his long ruling issued Monday at the Montreal courthouse.

Ibragimov has 10 months left to serve, given the time he has already spent in detention and then will be on probation for three years. His defence lawyer had requested a suspended sentence.

The attack stoked fear in Montreal's Jewish community, and the sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime, said Steven Slimovitch, legal counsel for B'nai Brith.

"There is clearly a message that Canada won't stand for terrorist activities," he said.

Ibragimov and Omar Bulphred were arrested in April 2007 after the incidents and have remained in detention since their arrests.

The Molotov cocktail attack caused significant physical damage to the Jewish school, but students and adults who had been in the building moments before had already left.

In the attempted attack on the YM-YWHA, Ibragimov left two propane canisters at the building's entrance.

Bulphred has opted for a trial and is due back in court on Dec. 16.

With files from the Canadian Press