92 months for Minnesotan al-Qaida suspect

MINNEAPOLIS, July 10 (UPI) -- A Minneapolis man received a 92-month prison sentence in federal court on one count of conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaida, the FBI said.

Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, a 35-year-old man of Somali descent, was charged in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with one count of conspiracy to support al-Qaida in a January 2004 indictment returned in the District of Minnesota.

Court documents reveal Warsame traveled from Pakistan to al-Qaida terrorist camps in Afghanistan in 2000 to undergo weapons and martial arts training.

He allegedly met with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, convicted Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid, a French citizen accused of plotting to blow up a commercial jet in 2001 with a bomb hidden in his shoes.

Frank J. Magill, U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, said the sentencing is a welcome conclusion to years of investigative work. The sentence, he said, "shows that our battle against terrorism continues, including right here in Minnesota, and that those who knowingly provide support to terrorists will be held accountable for their actions."

Warsame pleaded guilty to the count of providing material support to al-Qaida. In addition to the 92-month sentence, he receives three years of supervised release.