Washington: A Kashmiri truck driver in the US, accused of links to al-Qaida and involvement in plans to derail trains and sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, has pleaded guilty to felony charges linked to terror plots.

Lyman Faris (34), from Columbus Ohio, whose name in Kashmir was Mohammed Rauf, pleaded guilty to two felony charges, attorney general John Ashcroft told reporters.

According to the prosecution, he was linked to al-Qaida and involved in plots to derail trains and sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ashcroft said Rauf "led a secret double life" – as a truck driver and as one who "travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan and covertly met with Osama bin Laden and joined al-Qaida's 'jihad' against America, scouring sites for acts of terrorism in the United States".

Under an agreement with the Justice Department unsealed on June 19, Rauf pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to provide support. He agreed to co-operate with government investigators.

The agreement was filed with the US district court in Alexandria in the Greater Washington area, on May 1.

Rauf, according to the prosecution, is believed to have received instructions directly from senior al- Qaida leaders, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is in US custody overseas and has provided US interrogators with valuable intelligence about the terror group's worldwide reach.

A government statement of fact said Rauf was instructed by a senior al-Qaida operative to obtain "gas cutters" to sever cables on "a bridge in New York City" believed to have been the busy Brooklyn Bridge.

PTI