A US soldier in Washington state has been charged with trying to pass military secrets to al-Qaeda after being caught in a "sting" operation.
National Guardsman Mr Ryan Anderson, a tank crewman, was to be deployed to Iraq this summer from Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington, where his unit is based.
He was arrested yesterday for "aiding the enemy by wrongfully attempting to give information to the al-Qaeda terrorist network," according to Lt Col Stephen Barger, a spokesman at Fort Lewis.
Lt Col Barger said Mr Anderson would be held at Fort Lewis and that more information would likely be released in four or five days. He was to be mobilised as part of a rotation of US troops in the Iraq occupation force.
Local media said Mr Anderson was 26 and a converted Muslim who grew up in Everett, Washington, and graduated from Washington State University in 2002.
Lt Col Barger did not discuss Mr Anderson's religious beliefs, however, saying that "religious preferences are an individual right and responsibility."
The Pacific Northwest region has witnessed a series of arrests in the past year over al-Qaeda-linked activities.