Al-Qaeda sleeper agent admits supporting terrorist network

An al-Qaeda sleeper agent,held without trial for more than five years as an 'enemy combatant',has pleaded guilty in an Illinois court to conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist network.

An al-Qaeda sleeper agent,who was held by the US without trial for more than five years as an 8220;enemy combatant,8221; has pleaded guilty in an Illinois court to conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist network.

Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri has admitted before a US District Judge in Peoria that he worked for and provided material support to al-Qaeda with the intent to further its terrorism objectives and activities in the United States.

Al-Marri,a legal US resident and native of Qatar,was arrested in late 2001 while studying at Bradley University in Peoria near Chicago after federal authorities alleged he had connections with organisers of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The 43-year-old father of five faces upto 15 years imprisonment. He will be sentenced on July 30.

According to a copy of his plea agreement,al-Marri admits that he 8220;knowingly conspired and agreed with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed8221; considered to be the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks to provide support to al-Qaeda and to work under the organisation8217;s direction and control.

8220;Without a doubt,this case is a grim reminder of the seriousness of the threat we,as a nation,still face,8221; Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

Holder said after assuming office,President Barack Obama had directed him to lead an inter-agency review of the al-Marri case.

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8220;As a result of that review and an examination of the evidence gathered during the extensive investigation of al-Marri by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors,we decided to charge al-Marri in federal court,8221; he said.

In February,a grand jury in Illinois indicted al-Marri on two counts of providing and conspiring with others to provide material support to al-Qaeda.

Al-Marri got a bachelor8217;s degree in business administration from Bradley in 1991. The US government said he met Osama bin Laden in 2001 and was sent to the US to help al-Qaeda operatives carry out post 9/11 attacks.

Al-Marri returned to the US on a student visa the day before terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 9,2001.