US soldier held in al Qaeda probe

An American soldier has been arrested on suspicion of trying to sell secrets to Osama bin Laden's terror network.

The National Guardsman was held after allegedly offering military information through an internet chatroom.

He thought the people he was contacting were Muslim terrorists but in fact they were FBI agents running a "sting" operation, it was claimed today.

Ryan Anderson, 26, converted to Islam five years ago after studying the history of the Middle East at university.

He faces charges of "aiding the enemy by wrongfully attempting to communicate and give intelligence to al Qaeda". Anderson, a crewman on a tank, was about to leave for Iraq with about 8,000 soldiers in the 81st Armour Brigade. It is based in Fort Lewis, Washington State.

He is alleged to have offered classified information about the capabilities and weaknesses of US military vehicles in his unit, including armoured Humvees and tanks.

Officials say they do not believe he managed to pass any information to al Qaeda. Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Barger said Anderson was taken into custody without incident as part of a joint investigation by the army, justice department and FBI.

His brigade has been training at Fort Lewis since November.

Captain James Yee, 35, a former Fort Lewis chaplain, is accused of mishandling classified information from the US prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.

He ministered to Muslim prisoners there.

There were initial reports that Yee was being investigated as part of an espionage probe, but he was never charged with spying.