ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: A Moroccan native charged with plotting to blow up a bomb inside the U.S. Capitol in a suicide operation is expected to make a second court appearance.

Twenty-nine-year-old Amine El Khalifi was arrested Friday following a yearlong FBI sting and charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities say El Khalifi discussed plans to attack a Virginia office building and a synagogue with an undercover operative he thought was a member of Al-Qaeda. Later, El Khalifi allegedly volunteered to wear a suicide vest and kill himself in a martyrdom operation at the Capitol.

Court documents say El Khalifi is in the U.S. illegally.