Kenyan Jihadi is convicted of plotting a 9/11-style terror attack in America on behalf of al-Shabab

A Kenyan member of terrorist group al-Shabab has been convicted of plotting to fly an airliner into a United States' skyscraper after training as a pilot in the Philippines.

Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 34, was found guilty on all six accounts he faced for the 9/11 style attack by a federal jury in Manhattan on Monday, court records show.

He's faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in March.

Abdullah was arrested in 2019 in the Philippines with an improvised explosive device, a hand grenade and a gun, CNN reported at the time.

Prosecutors said he planned the attack for four years, undergoing extensive training in explosives and how to operate in secret and avoid detection.

He then moved to the Philippines in 2017 where he began training as a commercial pilot.

Abdullah was almost finished with his two-year pilot training when he was arrested in 2019 on local charges.

He was transferred the following year to US law enforcement authorities, who charged him with terrorism related crimes.

Prosecutors said Abdullah also researched how to breach a cockpit door and information 'about the tallest building in a major US city' before he was caught.

The State Department in 2008 designated al-Shabab, which means 'the youth' in Arabic, as a foreign terrorist organization.

The militant group is an al-Qaida affiliate that has fought to establish an Islamic state in Somalia based on Shariah law.

Abdullah represented himself during the trial, which opened last week.

He declined to give an opening statement and did not actively participate in questioning witnesses.

In court papers filed ahead of the trial, prosecutors said Abdullah intended to 'merely sit passively during the trial, not oppose the prosecution and whatever the outcome, he would accept the outcome because he does not believe that this is a legitimate system.'

Attorney General Merrick B Garland said following the conviction: 'The jury found that Cholo Abdi Abdullah, an operative of the terrorist organization al Shabaab, conspired to murder Americans in a terrorist attack reminiscent of the September 11 attack on our country.

'Today's conviction ensures that Abdullah will spend decades in prison for his crimes.

'The Justice Department will never stop working to identify, investigate, and prosecute those who would use heinous acts of violence to harm the American people.

'It does not matter where terrorists hide, they will not evade the long arm of the law.'

US Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York added: 'I commend the tireless work of our federal law enforcement partners and the career national security prosecutors of this office.

'This effort has been carried forward by generations of agents and prosecutors who never relented in their effort to bring Abdullah to justice and keep this nation safe.

'Thanks to their work and today's verdict, Abdullah will now serve a lengthy sentence in federal prison.'

Lawyers appointed to assist Abdullah in his self-defense didn't respond to an email seeking comment Monday.