A US woman has admitted she conspired to help a terrorist cell in Ireland that sought to train with an al-Qaeda-linked group and plotted to kill a Swedish cartoonist.
US prosecutors said Jamie Paulin-Ramirez (32) of Colorado entered her change of plea yesterday in federal court in Philadelphia. She had pleaded not guilty last year to helping Colleen LaRose, also known as “Jihad Jane”, plan to support terrorists.
Ramirez, who has been in custody since her arrest last April, allegedly conspired with LaRose and others to obtain military-style training in South Asia and then traveled to Europe to participate in a violent jihad, prosecutors said in court documents filed with Ramirez's change of plea.
LaRose and Ramirez exchanged emails messages in August 2009 when Ramirez accepted an invitation to a training camp in Europe.
Ramirez then travelled to Ireland on September 12th, 2009, with her six-year-old son.
Court papers show the Algerian man she married in Ireland sought to recruit "brothers and sisters” to train with the group known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Paulin-Ramirez faces up to 15 years in prison after her guilty plea to conspiring to aid foreign terrorists.
LaRose, who was arrested in October 2009, worked with others to recruit men and women on the internet, prosecutors said. She used online user names to publish jihadist literature and videos and raise money for terrorists, according to court documents.
LaRose was tied to a group plotting to murder Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist who drew the Prophet Muhammad with a dog's body in 2007. LaRose pleaded guilty last month to plotting to kill Swedish cartoonist Mr Vilks among other charges.