British pair ‘to admit’ terrorist charges in US

Two British terror suspects who were extradited to the US after an eight-year legal battle plan to change their pleas to guilty next week, a US court has said.

Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan faced trial after denying charges of providing material support to terrorists but arranged a “change of plea hearing” at the US District Court in Connecticut on Tuesday.

Ahmad, 38, and Ahsan, 34, are accused of running websites that allegedly sought to raise money, recruit fighters and seek equipment for terrorists in Afghanistan and Chechnya. The two men, both from London, are accused of operating a network of internet sites known as Azzam publications that attracted worldwide support to the jihadist cause.

Ahmad and Ahsan are being prosecuted in the US because of the role American authorities played in shutting down the Azzam network.

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