Illinois Teen Appears in Court on Terror Charges

An 18-year-old Illinois man accused of trying to join an al-Qaida-affiliated group made a brief court appearance Tuesday morning.

Abdella Ahmad Tounisi appeared in a Chicago federal court wearing orange prison scrubs. Tounisi showed no emotion and didn't acknowledge three of his family members sitting directly behind him.

During the quick, 5- to 10-minute hearing, the judge granted Tounisi's attorney a continuance to prepare her argument in favor of the judge setting bond. The government already has made it clear they think Tounisi should be held without bond.

The Aurora teenager is charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorism. Officials arrested Tounisi as he prepared to board a plane to Turkey at O'Hare International Airport.

Authorities say Tounisi wrote to an FBI agent posing as a terrorist recruiter saying he was willing to die but had no fighting experience.

The complaint says Tounisi is friends with Adel Daoud, who is charged with trying to detonate what he thought was a bomb outside a Chicago bar last year.

Tounisi's father, Ahmad Tounisi, has said his son wouldn't have done what authorities allege.