Associated Press
CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors have charged a 26-year-old Chicago man with attempting to aid the terrorist group al-Qaida.
Shaker Masri (shah-KEER’ MAHZ'-ree) was charged Wednesday with knowingly intending to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States.
Authorities say Masri told an FBI informant that he planned to go to Somalia and help al-Qaida, and asked the informant for money to help buy guns once they got there. He also allegedly told the informant that he hoped to become a martyr by wearing a suicide vest.
Masri says he is a U.S. citizen who was born in Alabama but raised abroad.
The charges come five months after a Chicago cab driver was charged with trying to provide funds to al-Qaida.