WASHINGTON, Jan 11: One of the six Muslims facing treason charges in a court in New York pleaded guilty on Friday to contributing and attempting to contribute funds, goods and services to Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network.

Faysal Galab, 26, a US citizen of Yemeni descent, accepted the plea bargain in a Buffalo court.

“Those who see fit to provide their money or service to support America’s enemy, even if they are American citizens, will face the full force of American justice,” U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement.

Galab is one of six Lackawanna residents who, the government said, “knowingly and unlawfully combine, conspire, confederate and agree to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, namely Al Qaeda”.

If convicted on the original charge, Galab would have faced a 20-year sentence, but now he faces a 10-year sentence and a 250,000 dollar fine on the lesser charge. He will have a hearing in April.

As part of the plea bargain, Galab is cooperating with the investigation and is expected to testify against the other defendants.

“This plea was arrived during the normal course of the criminal prosecution,” Attorney Mike Battle said. “We have been talking to Galab’s attorney (Joseph) Latona for quite some time.”

According to Latona, while his client admits to attending the training camp, he has not admitted to being a member of Al Qaeda or wanting to harm Americans.

Prosecutors said if Galab cooperated fully, they would recommend a prison sentence of only seven years.

Galab, Shafal Mosed, Yasein Taher, Yahya Goba Mukhtar al-Bakri and Sahim Alwan were charged with conspiring to give material support and resources to the Al Qaeda.

The six, all U.S. citizens who are members of Lackawanna’s Yemeni community, were accused of attending an Osama-run training camp near Kandahar in 2001.

Prosecutors asserted that their presence at the camp amounted to giving “material support” to the Al Qaeda.

However, prosecutors said Galab was offered a plea on the lesser charge of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, an executive order signed by former President Clinton in 1998.