Soldier accused of trying to aid al-Qaida
Army says he attempted
to pass information to terrorist network
Ryan Anderson is shown in a high school yearbook photo. He is a 1995 graduate of Cascade High School in Everett, Wash.
NBC News
Updated: 9:16 p.m. ET Feb. 12, 2004
U.S. military and Justice Department officials tell NBC News that a U.S. Army National Guardsman was taken into custody Thursday at Fort Lewis, Wash., and accused of attempting to pass intelligence information to the al-Qaida terrorist network.
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Spc. Ryan G. Anderson was being held pending charges of "aiding the enemy by wrongfully attempting to communicate and give intelligence to the al-Qaida terrorist network," said Lt. Col Stephen Barger, public information officer at Fort Lewis.
U.S. officials told NBC News that Anderson was caught up in a sting operation conducted jointly by the Army, the Justice Department and the FBI. Anderson, however, is being held only by the Army, which would bring the charges under consideration. Anderson is a Muslim, officials said.
Anderson, a 26-year-old tank crewmember from the Army's 81st National Guard Brigade, was among the 4,100 troops of the 81st Brigade on their way to Iraq for a one-year deployment after further training.
2002 college graduate
According to a recent edition of the Everett Herald newspaper, Anderson is a 2002 graduate of Washington State University and graduated from Cascade High School in 1995. While at WSU he majored in military history with an emphasis on the Middle East. The article says Anderson converted to the Muslim faith five years ago.
Barger said Anderson will be held at Fort Lewis pending the filing of criminal charges.
The brigade has been training at Fort Lewis since November. Eighty percent of the soldiers — 3,200 — are from Washington state, and 1,000 are from guard units in California and Minnesota.
It includes two tank battalions, a mechanized infantry battalion, engineers, support troops, artillery and an intelligence company.
NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News' justice correspondent Pete Williams, NBC News' Scott Foster and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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