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(Portland, Oregon-AP) -- A Portland, Oregon software engineer has pleaded guilty to trying to help the Taliban -- and has agreed to testify against others who are facing similar charges.
Prosecutors say the man (Maher Hawash) was one of the so-called "Portland seven" -- and will serve at least seven years in prison under a deal approved by U-S Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Prosecutors say the group's members grew angry with the U-S after the September eleventh attacks, and planned to join the fight against U-S troops in Afghanistan. Court documents detail how the group tried and failed to enter Afghanistan from western China in the late fall of 2001.
Five of the other six suspects in the case have pleaded innocent to various charges, including conspiracy, firearms and money laundering. A sixth suspect remains at large.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
