Two British men plead guilty on Tuesday to charges of providing cash and materials to terrorists in Afghanistan and Chechnya, according to media reports.
At a U.S. District Court in New Haven, Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan said they were guilty of running websites that supplied al Qaeda and Taliban members with money, fighters and supplies like gas masks, USA Today reported.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Reynolds said the websites Ahmad ran had plans of "potential for murder, kidnapping and maiming and harm against a U.S. national while outside the United States," Reuters reported. Ahmad could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison and up to five years' probation. Ahsan could get up to 15 years and five years' probation. Both may be fined a maximum of $500,000, Reuters reported.
In addition to gas masks, Reynolds also said the two men obtained "military suits for the Taliban," and records on the whereabouts of a U.S. Navy ship, USA Today reported.
Both men are facing additional charges, which they did not plead guilty to. They also face charges of conspiracy to injure the property of a foreign government, and Ahmed is facing charges of money laundering, USA Today reported.
One of the websites, Azzam.com, encouraged "Muslims around the world to support, donate money to and take part in activities of terrorism in the fight for the Taliban and against the government of Afghanistan," Reynolds told USA Today.
In 2012, Ahmad, Ahsan and three other men were extradited on terrorism charges to the United States from Great Britain. Among those men was Abu Hamza al-Marsi, a one-eyed Islamist cleric suspected for his involvement in a 1998 hostage situation in Yemen, USA Today reported.
U.S. District Jude Janet Hall said she would hold off on accepting the plea until she reviews information from probation, USA Today reported. Sentencing is set for March 4.
