Guilty Plea From One Of 'Lackawanna Six'

One of the six Yemeni-American men suspected of belonging to an al Qaeda terror cell in western New York agreed Friday to plead guilty to a felony criminal charge.

Faysal Galab, 26, appeared in federal court to enter the plea to a charge that he willfully and unlawfully made an attempt and made contributions of goods, funds or services to the benefit of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, a known terrorist organization.

The agreement followed a daylong series of negotiations.

Galab and five other men, all in their 20s and from the city of Lackawanna near Buffalo, were indicted in October on federal charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

U.S. District Judge William Skretny informed Galab he had a right to have a trial where the government would have to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Galab acknowledged by saying, "Yes, sir" into a microphone. He had faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the original federal charges.

Prosecutors maintain the men underwent up to six weeks of military training at a camp near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in the spring of 2001 where they heard bin Laden declare there "is going to be a fight against Americans."

The six men were arrested just days after the Sept. 11 anniversary, and charged with violating a 1996 law that prohibits giving money, weapons or other tangible support to foreign terrorist organizations.

In addition to Galab, also arrested were: Sahim Alwan, 30, Yahya Goba, 25, Yasein Taher, 25, Shafal Mosed, 24, and Mukhtar al-Bakri, 22,

Alwan was the only suspect to be granted bail, which was set at $600,000, but he still has not been released. At an Oct. 8 ruling, a federal magistrate credited Alwan with extricating himself from the camp and distancing himself from its activities by feigning an ankle injury.

The criminal complaint hinged solely on statements allegedly made by al-Bakri and Alwan. They were the only ones who admitted visiting the camp but indicated they didn't know their ultimate destination until arriving in Pakistan.

The pair maintained all six were trained in explosives, assault rifles and handguns, although none got to fire live rounds.

The alleged leader of the Lackawanna cell, Yemeni-American Kamal Derwish, was believed killed in a CIA airstrike on Nov. 3 in Yemen, U.S. officials have said.

Prosecutors maintain the men were awaiting orders from bin Laden's group to carry out an attack in the United States but acknowledged there was no evidence of an imminent threat posed by the men.