LOC10:01
07:01 GMT
NEW YORK, May 27 (KUNA) -- A senior member of Al-Qaeda pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and providing material support to the terrorist group, the US Department of Justice announced late Tuesday.
The Eastern District of New York announced the guilty plea of Saddiq Al-Abbadi, a Yemeni national, to conspiring to murder US nationals abroad, providing and conspiring to provide material support to Al-Qaeda and using a machine gun in furtherance of those crimes.
The defendant was a high-level Al-Qaeda operative with ties to the terrorist group's senior leadership in both Pakistan and Yemen, said the Acting US Attorney Kelly Currie in a press release. "He fought in battles against US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, tried to kill US troops in Afghanistan by luring them to a compound rigged with explosives, and helped an American citizen gain entry to Al-Qaeda," Currie said.
Back in 2008, the 40-year-old Al-Abbadi travelled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan in order to fight for Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the press release noted.
He was also engaged directly with senior Al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, including Sheikh Saeed Al-Masri. (end)
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