Algerian charged in millennium plot

NEW YORK -- An Algerian has been charged with assisting an Osama bin Laden-trained terrorist who was caught with a trunkload of explosives apparently intended for a terror plot during millennium celebrations.

Samir Ati Mohamed, 32, allegedly provided Ahmed Ressam with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol with a silencer so he could rob banks to fund his New Year's attack, according to a federal complaint made public Friday.

U.S. authorities on Thursday served Mohamed with an extradition warrant. Canadian authorities said Mohamed had been in custody in Vancouver on alleged immigration violations since July.

The terrorist plot was foiled when Ressam was arrested entering the country in late 1999 with explosives in his car. He pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against other terror suspects in hopes of reducing a potential 130-year sentence.

The complaint alleges he agreed "to get Ressam two hand grenades and a machine gun with a silencer," according to an FBI affidavit. It also accuses him of working with another conspirator, Mokhtar Haouari, to obtain "a credit card in an alias for Ressam's use in connection with his planned terrorist operation and jihad work."