Al-Qaida suspect linked to cartoonist plot pleads guilty

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- An al-Qaida suspect linked to a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist has pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to a terrorism charge.

Ali Charaf Damache entered the plea Monday in federal court in Philadelphia. He had been extradited from Spain last year.

The 53-year-old Algerian, whose online handle was Theblackflag, was accused of being involved in a terror cell that wanted to kill a cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog.

The plot never materialized.

Prosecutors said Damache sought to recruit light-skinned women and others who did not fit the traditional terrorist profile to wage jihad. His targets included Colleen LaRose, a Pennsylvania woman who called herself "Jihad Jane."

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Prosecutors are recommending he get a 15-year prison sentence and be deported.