Washington:
A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a US man of conspiring to kill American soldiers in Iraq.
Prosecutors alleged that Tarek Mehanna, who hails from the Boston suburb of Sudbury, travelled to Yemen in 2004 seeking terrorism training, Xinhua reported.
Mehanna, an Egyptian descent, has been held without bail since he was indicted on terrorism charges in November 2009.
The 29-year-old had a doctorate degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
After failing to get training there, he returned to the US and started distributing propaganda materials of Al Qaeda.
Defence lawyers argued that Mehanna did not provide support to Al Qaeda but was expressing his own views in opposition to US foreign policy, particularly to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But a number of Mehanna's former friends testified against him that he had promoted extreme ideology, endorsed the Sep 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
FBI agents also told jurors that a search of Mehanna's computer uncovered countless documents promoting Al Qaeda, including materials that Mehanna had translated into English.
Prosecutors alleged that Tarek Mehanna, who hails from the Boston suburb of Sudbury, travelled to Yemen in 2004 seeking terrorism training, Xinhua reported.
Mehanna, an Egyptian descent, has been held without bail since he was indicted on terrorism charges in November 2009.
The 29-year-old had a doctorate degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
After failing to get training there, he returned to the US and started distributing propaganda materials of Al Qaeda.
Defence lawyers argued that Mehanna did not provide support to Al Qaeda but was expressing his own views in opposition to US foreign policy, particularly to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But a number of Mehanna's former friends testified against him that he had promoted extreme ideology, endorsed the Sep 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
FBI agents also told jurors that a search of Mehanna's computer uncovered countless documents promoting Al Qaeda, including materials that Mehanna had translated into English.
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