Guilty plea in NY ‘mini-al Qaida’ cell case


June 18, 2012 at 12:48p.m.

Guilty plea in NY ‘mini-al Qaida’ cell case

NEW YORK (AP) — A native New Yorker accused of conspiring to join al-Qaida and start a mini al-Qaida cell has pleaded guilty to charges in the case.

Wesam El-Hanafi pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court.

Prosecutors say the Brooklyn-born El-Hanafi pledged loyalty to al-Qaida. They say he helped teach the group how to evade detection on the Internet after he went to Yemen in February 2008.

El-Hanafi was arrested in Virginia in April 2010, when he was brought to the United States from Dubai. He had been working in that country in a government job safeguarding computer systems.

Authorities say he willingly spoke to FBI agents after he realized he had been placed on a no-fly list.