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[still no news pic, but this article gives added details]

Fort Lewis soldier charged with trying to aid al-Qaida

The Associated Press

FORT LEWIS — A National Guardsman stationed at Fort Lewis was arrested today and charged by the Army with trying to provide information to the al-Qaida terrorist network, a federal law enforcement official said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that Spc. Ryan G. Anderson was charged with "aiding the enemy by wrongfully attempting to communicate and give intelligence to the al-Qaida terrorist network."

It was not immediately known what information Anderson allegedly provided.

Anderson, a Muslim, was being held at Fort Lewis, an Army base near Tacoma.

A message left with the Army's Lt. Col. Stephen Barger at Fort Lewis was not immediately returned. Barger, however, scheduled a news conference at the base this afternoon.

Anderson, 26, is a tank crew member from the National Guard's 81st Armor Brigade, a 4,200-member unit set to depart for Iraq. It's the biggest deployment for the Washington Army National Guard since World War II.

Washington State University spokeswoman Charleen Taylor said Anderson was a 2002 graduate with a degree in history.

Anderson converted to the Muslim faith five years ago, the Everett Herald reported last week. He graduated from Everett's Cascade High School in 1995.

The brigade has been training at Fort Lewis since November. Eighty percent of the soldiers — 3,200 — are from Washington state, and 1,000 are from guard units in California and Minnesota.

It includes two tank battalions, a mechanized infantry battalion, engineers, support troops, artillery and an intelligence company.

It's due to return in March 2005, and be back under state authority by May 15, 2005.