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Fifth Buffalo terror cell suspect pleads guiltyYemeni-American admits to aiding bin Laden, al Qaeda
From Maureen Madden
BUFFALO, New York (CNN) -- The fifth of six Yemeni-American men accused of attending an al Qaeda terrorist training camp in Afghanistan in 2001 changed his plea to guilty Monday, according to prosecutors handling the case. Yasein Taher, 25, appeared in federal court before Judge William M. Skretny, where he pleaded guilty to providing material support to Osama bin Laden and the terrorist group. In recent weeks, Skretny also has accepted guilty pleas from four of the other five defendants. Taher, who is scheduled to be sentenced September 4, is expected to receive an eight-year prison term. "With today's conviction, the Department of Justice continues to build on its strong record of prosecuting those who provide material support to our terrorist enemies," Attorney General John Ashcroft said. "The cooperation we secure from defendants who trained side-by-side with our enemies in Afghanistan and elsewhere is valuable as we continue to wage the war on terrorism." The other four to enter guilty pleas -- Sahim Alwan, 30, Faysal Galab, 25, Shafel Mosed, 24, and Yahya Goba, 26 -- did so in exchange for reduced charges. Those four face between seven and 10 years in prison. The sixth defendant, Mukhtar al-Bakri, 22, has not entered a plea agreement. According to the office of U.S. Attorney Michael Battle, "communications continue with defense counsel regarding the sixth defendant." Details of Taher's agreement were not immediately available. The other men have acknowledged attending al Qaeda's al Farooq camp near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in summer 2001, just a few months before the terrorist group orchestrated the September 11 attacks, in which more than 3,000 people were killed. The men who pleaded guilty have said the camps taught them to use Kalashnikov and M-16 automatic rifles, 9 mm handguns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. They also received instruction in military tactics. At the camp, the men heard speeches by bin Laden in which the Saudi exile spoke about martyrdom and made anti-Israeli and anti-American statements. Only Alwan, according to Galab's plea statement, met privately with bin Laden, who asked "whether anyone in America is willing to die for the cause." Alwan also advised the men to lie about their travel if questioned by the FBI, Galab said. The six suspects have been in custody since September and were indicted on two counts each of providing material support -- themselves -- to a foreign terrorist organization. The original charges carried a maximum 15-year prison sentence. The government has suggested the men might have constituted a so-called "sleeper cell," possibly waiting for orders to carry out a future attack in the United States, though prosecutors concede they have no evidence of any such plan.
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