Guilty pleas in US terrorism case

Kevin James, 31, and Levar Washington, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiring to wage war against the United States, the US attorney's office said.

James allegedly formed the Jamiyaat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS) group in 1997 while in prison for attempted robbery.

James faces 20 years in prison while Washington faces a 25-year sentence.

The pair were indicted in 2005 along with two other men.

"These home-grown terrorists had raised the money, recruited the people, chosen the targets, obtained the weapons and set the date"
FBI director Robert Mueller

Prosecutors said that a third man, Gregory Patterson, was expected to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit terrorism on Monday.

The three men will face sentencing hearings in March and April, prosecutors said.

The fourth member of the group, Hammad Samana, was deemed unfit to stand trial and was currently receiving psychiatric care at a federal prison, the US attorney's office said.

'Adopted cause'

Levar Washington was allegedly recruited by James to JIS whilst both were incarcerated at a California prison in 2004.

Prosecutors say Washington recruited Mr Patterson and Mr Samana to the group on his release.

They allege that the men then conducted surveillance of military sites and Israeli and Jewish facilities, purchased guns and underwent firearms training.

It was on their arrest on suspicion of robbing petrol stations that police claim to have uncovered the alleged terror plot.

Although there was no evidence the group was linked to al-Qaeda or other foreign Islamic extremist groups, the accused adopted their cause, FBI director Robert Mueller said.

"These home-grown terrorists had raised the money, recruited the people, chosen the targets, obtained the weapons and set the date," said Mr Mueller in a statement.

"All they had left to do was to strike."