Man pleads guilty in plot to attack US army base

NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) One of six Muslim men accused of plotting to kill soldiers at a New Jersey military base pleaded guilty today to conspiring to provide firearms and ammunition, US Attorney Christopher Christie said.

Agron Abdullahu, 25, a supermarket worker born in the former Yugoslavia, admitted at his plea hearing that he and Serdar Tatar, a Turkish-born convenience store clerk, provided firearms to three illegal immigrant brothers in 2006 and 2007, Christie said in a statement.

Five other defendants pleaded not guilty in June to charges of plotting to kill US soldiers at the Fort Dix military base, located about 60 km east of Philadelphia, and possessing illegal weapons.

They are Yugoslav-born ethnic Albanian brothers Eljvir, Dritan and Shain Duka, all illegal immigrants from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where they ran a roofing business; Mohamad Shnewer, a Jordanian-born taxi driver from Philadelphia; and Tatar.

''Abdullahu admitted that on at least two occasions he provided the Dukas and others with firearms and ammunition for them to possess and use at a firing range in Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania,'' Christie said in a statement.

Abdullahu faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 250,000 dollars. He is due to be sentenced on February 6.

The trial of the remaining five men is due to begin on January 15.

Reuters AM GC2246