Phoenix veteran faces life for helping al-Qaeda in Syria
An Army veteran from Arizona will remain in jail until he's tried for working with terrorists in Syria.
Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix, faces life imprisonment for charges of using a weapon of mass destruction outside the U.S. Prosecutors say he joined withan al-Qaeda affiliate fighting against the regime of Syrian President Basharal-Assad.
Harroun is charged with firing rocket-propelled grenades at Syrian troops. A federal judge in Virginia ordered that Harroun must stay in jail while he awaits trial. Harroun's lawyers asked the judge to take into account the fact that he was fighting with rebels who share the American government's goal of removing the Syrian president. But federal prosecutors successfully argued against taking any chances since the rebels area branch of al-Qaeda.