A QATARI man has admitted he trained in al-Qaeda camps and came to the United States one day before the 9/11 terror attacks.
Ali al-Marri, 43, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organisation.
A second charge of providing material support or resources to a terror group was dropped by the
court.
Al-Marri faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 (£168,000) fine when he is sentenced on 30 July.
The government claimed he met Osama bin Laden in the summer of 2001 and was sent to the US to help al-Qaeda operatives carry out post-9/11 attacks.
Al-Marri obtained a student visa and returned to the US the day before terrorists crashed the two planes into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
Al-Marri admitted he trained in al-Qaeda camps and stayed in al-Qaeda safe houses in Pakistan between 1998 and 2001, where he learned how to handle weapons and how to communicate by phone and e-mail using code.
He also admitted meeting and having regular contact with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and with Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, who allegedly helped the 9/11 hijackers with money and Western-style clothing.
"Without a doubt, this case is a grim reminder of the seriousness of the threat we, as a nation, still face," Eric Holder, the US attorney general, said.
He added that president Barack Obama had ordered him to review the al-Marri case shortly after he took office in January.
