Minneapolis man pleads guilty to aiding al Qaeda

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Minneapolis resident has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda and faces a prison term of up to 15 years, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.

Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, a naturalized Canadian citizen of Somali descent, was indicted in January, 2004, charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, which plotted the September attacks.

Warsame, 35, faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The Justice Department said Warsame has agreed to be deported to Canada after his sentence is served.

According to the plea agreement, Warsame attended an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in 2000, sent money to one of his former training camp commanders and met fugitive al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Warsame traveled to Pakistan in March 2001 and provided information via email to several al Qaeda associates throughout 2002 and 2003, according to the plea agreement.

Warsame entered his guilty plea on Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Minnesota. He will be sentenced on July 9.