Attorneys are expected to submit a plea agreement ahead of a Tuesday hearing in the case of a Minnesota man accused of going to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants, according to court documents filed Monday.

A federal grand jury indicted Salah Osman Ahmed, 26, on charges of providing material support to terrorists, lying to the FBI, and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim and injure. The February indictment was sealed until this month Ahmed was arrested this month.

The documents filed Monday call for attorneys to submit a plea agreement ahead of a Tuesday afternoon hearing in U.S. District Court.

Ahmed’s attorney, James Ostgard, did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press, but told Minnesota Public Radio News that his client will plead guilty to supporting terrorism and that all other charges will be dismissed as part of the agreement with prosecutors. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.

Ostgard told MPR his client went to Somalia in December 2007 to fight the Ethiopian troops occupying his home country _ “not for the purpose of making bombs.”

Ahmed is among as many as 20 Twin Cities men believed to have gone to Somalia to possibly fight with terrorist groups in recent years. One of the other men, 25-year-old Abdifatah Yusuf Isse, pleaded guilty in April to one count of providing material support to terrorists.

Family members say at least three young men have been killed in Somalia, including Shirwa Ahmed, who the FBI has said was the first known U.S. citizen to carry out a suicide bombing when he died Oct. 29.

The February indictment alleges Salah Osman Ahmed traveled to Somalia to join Islamic militants in December 2007. It’s not clear when he returned to the Twin Cities.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a socialist dictator then turned on each other, causing chaos in the African nation of 7 million. Islamic insurgents with alleged ties to al-Qaida recently intensified their efforts to capture the capital city, Mogadishu.

Census figures estimate about 32,300 Somalis live in Minnesota, but local advocates say the number is much higher. Minneapolis has the nation’s largest concentration of Somali immigrants.

Source:  The Associated Press

By AMY FORLITI