Al-Qaida suspect held in Philly pleads not guilty in federal court
March 13, 2010 file photo of Algerian national Ali Charaf Damache in Dublin, Ireland. An al-Qaida suspect linked to a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist has been extradited to Philadelphia to be tried in civilian court rather than face trial at Guantanamo Bay. (Niall Carson/File, PA via AP)
An al-Qaida suspect linked to a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges.
A lawyer for 52-year-old Ali Charaf Damache, of Algeria, says his client appeared in federal court Monday and pleaded not guilty to charges he was involved in a terror cell that wanted to kill a cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog.
Records show Damache is being held in a federal detention center in Philadelphia.
Prosecutors say the Ireland-based terror cell included a Pennsylvania woman known as Jihad Jane.
Damache is known as The Black Flag. He was brought from Spain to Philadelphia last month to be tried in a civilian court despite President Donald Trump’s promise to send terror suspects to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
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