U.S. Imam pleads guilty to aiding Hamas: report

The imam of a mosque in the southeastern U.S. state of Georgia has pleaded guilty to providing material support to the militant Palestinian group Hamas, in a case in which the agreement, charges and even the plea hearing were handled in secret, newspapers reported on Saturday.

The U.S. attorney's office said on Friday that the charges and plea agreement involving Mohamed Shorbagi were filed on Aug. 28 in a federal court in Rome, Georgia, a division of Atlanta's federal court, but were sealed until Friday, the newspaper said.

Shorbagi, 42, has agreed to a maximum of 15 years in prison, prosecutors said. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for Nov. 3.

Shorbagi provided financial support to Hamas, the Palestinian group designated by the United States government as a foreign terrorist organization, between 1997 and 2001, and he was also accused of conspiring with other anonymous sources, to provide material support to Hamas, the report said.

The donations were passed through the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was shut down by U.S. authorities in 2001, prosecutors were quoted as saying.

The office of David Nahmias, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said that Shorbagi was a Georgia representative of the Holy Land Foundation and attended its meetings that were addressed by "high level" Hamas officials.

The prison time for Shorbagi could be reduced if he cooperated, Nahmias said.

Shorbagi, a citizen of the Palestinian territories, was living legally in the United States with his wife and young children, according to report in The New York Times.

Source: Xinhua