(adds detail from courtroom)

By Alexandra Zawadil

VIENNA, March 3 (Reuters) - A Muslim couple went on trial on Monday charged with supporting terrorist organisations but the woman was excluded from the court because she refused to remove her veil.

The pair, named as Mohamed M., aged 22, and Mona S., 21, were seized last September on suspicion of posting a video message on the Internet threatening attacks in Austria and Germany, authorities said at the time.

The court heard that both were Austrian citizens and were married under Islamic law but not under Austrian law.

They were accused of supporting "terrorist organisations such as al Qaeda," public prosecutor Michael Klackl told the court.

Over the Internet, the man had discussed possible attacks, including matches of the upcoming euro 2008 soccer championship being hosted in Austria and Switzerland and on international organisations based in Vienna, Klackl told the court.

The woman had mainly provided translation services, their lawyer had said before the trial.

Klackl referred to a section of the Austrian penal code that provides for prison of five to 15 years for leadership of a terrorist association, or one to 10 years if the association is limited to threatening terrorist acts.

Guards escorted the woman from the courtroom after the court ruled her full-covering niqab was unacceptable despite an appeal by defence lawyer Lennart Binder that this would prejudice her trial.

Binder said the pair acknowledged their membership of an Internet group called the Global Islamic Media Front and had contributed to it.

However, GIMF was not a terrorist organisation and there was not the slightest evidence of any link of the two accused with al Qaeda, Binder told the court.

The man was suspected of trying to coerce Austrian government officials into withdrawing military personnel from Afghanistan by threatening attacks in a video, a judiciary spokesman said at the time of their arrest.

Authorities acted because the pair were due to leave Austria for Egypt on honeymoon. (Editing by Paul Bolding)