Federal prosecutors say a 26-year-old Chicago man was plotting to go to Somalia to become a suicide bomber with the terrorist group al-Qaida.
Shaker Masri (SHOCK'-uhr MAHZ'-ree) was charged Tuesday evening with attempting to aid a terrorist organization and use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States.
Authorities contend Masri told an FBI informant of his plans and asked the informant for money to help buy guns once they got there.
During a brief hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors told a judge that each of the charges carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
Masri says he's a U.S. citizen who was born in Alabama but raised abroad.
(This version corrects that he was charged Tuesday instead of Wednesday. )
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