US guardsman 'in al-Qaeda plot'

Anderson is believed to have tried to contact al-Qaeda on the internet

An American soldier has been detained on suspicion of trying to pass information about military weapons to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

The suspect, identified as Ryan Anderson, a National Guardsman based at Fort Lewis in Washington state, was held after a surveillance operation.

His unit is preparing to be deployed in Iraq as part of a rotation of forces.

It is thought he did not pass on any information, but may have tried to contact al-Qaeda through the internet.

Officials said Mr Anderson, 26, converted to Islam within the past few years.

'Aiding the enemy'

Lt Col Stephen Barger said Mr Anderson was suspected of "aiding the enemy by wrongfully attempting to communicate and give intelligence to the al-Qaeda terrorist network".

He said Mr Anderson was arrested following a joint investigation involving the army, the FBI and the Justice Department.

The BBC's Nick Childs, in Washington, says the soldier is a member of a tank crew but not of a senior rank and is not thought to have had access to highly sensitive information.

Pentagon officials said he had been signing on to extremist internet chatrooms and was trying to contact al-Qaeda operatives to offer services and information.

Mr Anderson, who serves in the 81st Armored Brigade, is being held in custody at Fort Lewis.

Fresh public alarm

Our correspondent says details of this case remain murky and precisely why Mr Anderson might initially have come under suspicion is not immediately clear.

This apparent security scare could raise new alarms in the minds of the American public, at least about the reliability of some Muslim military personnel, he adds.

But US military officials aren't drawing any wider conclusions right now. They are anxious to attract more Muslim recruits to help with operations in Iraq.

Mr Anderson is the second Muslim soldier from Fort Lewis to be suspected of wrongdoing in the US-led war on terror.

Former Fort Lewis chaplain, Capt James Yee, is accused of mishandling classified material at Guantanamo Bay prison camp, where hundreds of al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects are being held.

Three other men working for the Americans have been charged with security violations at Guantanamo Bay.