U.S. citizen pleads guilty to training with al Qaeda

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An American man who traveled to Somalia to support Islamic rule there has pleaded guilty to training with al Qaeda, officials said on Friday.

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 28, was arrested in Kenya on January 21 after he and suspected Islamic jihadists, or Muslims engaged in holy war, fled to escape a U.S.-backed effort to defeat Islamic militant takeover in Somalia.

U.S. Justice Department officials said Maldonado, who also used the name Daniel Aljughaifi, pleaded guilty to a charge of training with al Qaeda, which is illegal for U.S. citizens.

U.S. District Judge Gray Miller set sentencing for June 29. Maldonado could receive 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, officials said.

Maldonado, who lived in Houston at the time, took his family with him to Somalia, where his wife contracted malaria and died. He has three young children.