American-born al-Qaida recruit becomes key informant

An American-born al-Qaida recruit has become one of the counter-terrorism world’s most valuable informants, giving investigators a rare look at al-Qaida’s day-to-day operations in a lawless region bordering Pakistan which US officials have struggled to infiltrate, investigators said.

Bryant Neal Vinas, who grew up in the New York City suburbs of Long Island, was charged in New York court papers unsealed on Wednesday with giving al-Qaida “expert advice and assistance” about New York’s transit system and with a rocket attack on US forces in Afghanistan last year.