A US National Guardsman in Washington State has been charged with trying to pass military secrets to the militant group al Qaeda after being caught in a sting operation, military officials said on Thursday.  

Army Specialist Ryan Anderson, a tank crewman, was slated for deployment to Iraq this summer from Ft. Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington, where his unit is based.

US officials have said al Qaeda, accused of the Sept. 11 2001 and other attacks on US facilities around the world, is also involved in some attacks on US forces in Iraq.

Anderson was arrested on Thursday for "aiding the enemy by wrongfully attempting to give information to the al Qaeda terrorist network," according to Lt. Col. Stephen Barger, a spokesman at Ft. Lewis. Barger said Anderson would be held at Ft. Lewis and that more information would likely come in four or five days.

Local media said Anderson was 26 and a converted Muslim who grew up in Everett, Washington, and graduated from Washington State University in 2002.

(China Daily February 13, 2004)