Five convicted of plotting to attack U.S. army base

CAMDEN, New Jersey (Reuters) - Five men were convicted on Monday of conspiracy to kill U.S. soldiers in a planned attack on an Army base in New Jersey that prosecutors described as a bid to wage Islamist holy war against America.

The U.S. attorney said he would seek life sentences for the five foreign-born defendants, who were also found not guilty on charges of attempted murder after an eight-week trial.

Prosecutors had told the court the defendants were inspired by al Qaeda and wanted to wage holy war on the United States.

Defence attorneys had argued that while the men talked the talk of militancy, it was all bravado and they had no real intention of carrying out the attack on Fort Dix army base, which was never executed.

"This has been one of the most difficult things that we have ever had to do," the members of the sequestered jury said in a statement read to the court by the judge after six days of deliberations.

"During these last six days we have held the fate of these five defendants in our hands and we have not reached our conclusions lightly," the statement said.

The defendants, all born outside the United States, are ethnic Albanian brothers Shain, Dritan and Eljvir Duka who together ran a roofing business in Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Serdar Tatar, a convenience store clerk who was born in Turkey; and Mohamad Shnewer, a Jordanian-born taxi driver from Philadelphia. They are aged 23 to 30.

Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra said prosecutors will press for sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sentencing was set for April 22-23.

Dritan and Shain Duka were also found guilty of possessing weapons to be used in the planned attack.

The five defendants smiled to family members as they entered the court but did not react visibly when the verdicts were read. Defence lawyers said they would consider an appeal after the sentencing.

The men were arrested in May 2007 after a 14-month investigation in which two people working for the FBI infiltrated the group and obtained hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings of the men plotting an attack.

The probe was launched when an electronics store clerk went to the police after being asked by one of the men to copy a tape containing scenes of militants firing guns into the air and calling for holy war.

As well as planning to attack Fort Dix, about 40 miles (65 km) east of Philadelphia, prosecutors said the men discussed attacks on other military installations including Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)