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Iraq insurgent pleads guilty to planting bombs

WASHINGTON — The first insurgent from the Iraq war prosecuted in U.S. courts pleaded guilty Thursday to planting roadside bombs in a deal that carries a 25-year prison sentence. How much time he actually spends in prison will be up to the Netherlands.

Iraqi-born Dutch citizen Wesam al-Delaema pleaded in guilty in federal court to conspiracy to murder Americans outside the United States, a charge that can carry up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

He and his fellow “Mujahideen from Fallujah” videotaped themselves planting remote-control explosives along a road used by U.S. troops. The explosives did not cause any deaths.

The Justice Department and al-Delaema have agreed that he will be sentenced to 25 years with no fine — a deal that U.S. Judge Paul L. Friedman said in court that he would approve.

Al-Delaema could end up with a lighter sentence because the agreement also says he will be returned to the Netherlands, where a Dutch judge will determine how much time he should serve under the Dutch system.

Al-Delaema was extradited from the Netherlands two years ago in an agreement that said he would be tried in federal court — not by a military commission, such as those set up for terror suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The deal also said al-Delaema could serve his sentence in a Dutch prison if he is convicted.

Al-Delaema appeared in U.S. District Court wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and headphones so he could hear a simultaneous Arabic translation of the proceedings. He answered the judge in accented English when asked if he wanted to plead guity. “Yes, I do, your honor.”

As part of the deal, he has also agreed to plead guilty to aggravated assault in Washington’s Superior Court for an attack on a corrections officer in the city jail.

The assault charge can carry up to 10 years, but prosecutors agreed the sentence should be 18 months to be served at the same time as the 25 year term so it won’t add any time to his sentence by the U.S. courts.

Attorneys on both sides said they were trying to expedite proceedings so that al-Delaema can be transferred back to the Netherlands as soon as possible. His sentencing is scheduled for April 15, a speeded-up timetable from typical cases.

Al-Delaema, 36, was born in Fallujah and traveled to his hometown after the U.S. invasion, where he made the videos planting the roadside bombs. The video was widely shown on Arabic TV stations and seized by police who raided al-Delaema’s house in the Dutch city of Amersfoort in May 2005.

Al-Delaema originally claimed he was innocent, saying he was forced to make the video after being kidnapped and beaten. He said he feared being beheaded if he resisted.

His attorneys originally said the United States did not have the right to try him. They argued that al-Delaema could be tortured by U.S. authorities and said the U.S. legal system couldn’t be trusted.

In a 2003 interview broadcast on Dutch television, al-Delaema accused the U.S. and its allies of waging war in Iraq to control its oil reserves.

“The Americans and British are coming to our country to steal oil and everyone knows it,” he said.

“I don’t care if I myself die or not. I want to offer myself up for my land, for my people. I’m not more or less important than the women and children who you see on television dying because of America,” al-Delaema said.