Islam Times - Australian to plead guilty to aiding Hamas

Islam Times - A Palestinian-born Australian-Jordanian citizen will plead guilty to providing services to Hamas under the terms of a plea deal submitted to an Israeli court.

Eyad Rashid Abu Arja was detained on March 24, 2011, and originally charged with belonging to an illegal organisation and activities on behalf of an illegal organisation - in this case Hamas, a terrorist group under Israeli law.

According to Sunday's plea bargain, he will admit to a charge of providing services for an illegal organisation and serve a prison term of 30 months, with credit for his time in jail since his detention.

The Petah Tikva district court will rule on Abu Arja's case on January 5.

The prosecution alleged he had been active in Hamas for four years, since being recruited by the group. The prosecution also noted that Abu Arja admitted to the charges, and cooperated fully in his investigation.

According to the indictment, Abu Arja, a computer scientist, was allegedly trained on the use of automatic weapons.

Between 2009 and 2010, a Palestinian living in Saudi Arabia allegedly asked Abu Arja "for his help in obtaining encrypted telephones and panoramic photo equipment, as well as technology for guiding missiles".

After expressing his intention to visit Israel, he was then tasked with photographing commercial centres, collecting maps and making contact with commercial businesses in Israel, the indictment alleged.