Sentencing of sleeper agent postponed

PEORIA, Ill., June 19 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Illinois has postponed sentencing of a Qatar man convicted of being a sleeper agent for al-Qaida while studying in Peoria.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm granted a request submitted by defense attorneys who wanted extra time to prepare for Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri's sentencing hearing, the Peoria Journal Star reported Friday.

Al-Marri pleaded guilty in federal court April 30 to conspiring with others to aid al-Qaida.

In his 20-page plea agreement, he admitted reaching out before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to such high-level terrorists as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, thought to be the mastermind of the attacks.

Al-Marri was arrested in 2003 and held for more than five years at the U.S. Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., before being transferred to federal prison in Pekin, Ill.

Mihm rescheduled sentencing for Oct. 29.