A Pakistani-born teenager accused of helping a terror cell based in Ireland will plead guilty to a US terrorism charge, according to court papers filed late yesterday.
Mohammad Hassan Khalid became a rare juvenile suspect held in FBI custody after his arrest last summer, when he was a 17-year-old high school student in Ellicott City, Maryland.
Mr Khalid had met a Pennsylvania woman who called herself 'Jihad Jane' in an online chat room when he was 15 and had agreed to help her seek money and recruits to wage a Muslim holy war in Europe and South Asia, authorities said.
The woman, Colleen LaRose, admitted last March that she had plotted to kill a Swedish artist who had offended Muslims. Ms LaRose (48) faces a sentence of life in prison. She is not just a homegrown terrorist but a rare female one.
The US is currently seeking the extradition of an Algerian-born man currently in custody in Ireland after he was charged in a Pennsylvania court in October in connection with the investigation.
A spokesman for the US justice department confirmed to The Irish Times that it intends to seek the extradition of Ali Charaf Damache (46) to stand trial in Pennsylvania after he was charged with Mr Khalid with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Mr Damache, who is an Irish citizen, was also charged with attempted identity theft to facilitate a terrorist plot.
According to prosecutors, he sought recruits to train with the group known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Mr Damache was taken into Irish custody on a threat-related charge in March 2010, when police in Waterford detained him, Ms Paulin-Ramirez and five others as they investigated the plot against the artist.
Mr Khalid was arrested in July. He first appeared in open court in October, after he turned 18 and was indicted on a charge of aiding terrorism. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.
Defense lawyer Jeffrey Lindy declined to comment on the scheduled April 2nd change-of-plea hearing. He previously said that he believes Ms LaRose helped the FBI build its case against his client.
Mr Khalid and his family are legal immigrants from Pakistan. He could be deported if convicted.
Mr Khalid had been offered a full scholarship to prestigious Johns Hopkins University. But in a secret life online, he pledged to forward money to Ms LaRose for her to pass on to the jihadists and hid a passport she sent him, authorities said.
Ms LaRose was being watched by the FBI after posting online videos in which she vowed to kill or die for the jihadist cause. She moved to Ireland in late 2009 but returned voluntarily to surrender to US authorities.
Mr Khalid was indicted along with Mr Damache, who married another American woman, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, of Colorado, after she moved to Waterford, Ireland, to meet him.
Ms Paulin-Ramirez (33) pleaded guilty last year to providing material support to terrorists, the charge now facing Mr Khalid.
The US women were sought for their Western looks and passports, authorities have said. No sentencing date has been set for either.
There is no evidence from court documents that Ms LaRose ever made it to Sweden to kill artist Lars Vilks, although prosecutors have said she followed his activities online. His 2007 depiction of the Prophet Muhammad as a dog prompted threats on his life.
Mr Vilks called the murder plot "rather low-tech," adding he was glad Ms LaRose never pulled it off.
AP