France’s Lafarge pleads guilty to US charge of supporting ISIL

The cement maker previously admitted that its Syrian subsidiary paid armed groups to help protect staff at the plant [File: Benoit Tessier/Reuters]

French cement maker Lafarge has pleaded guilty to a US charge that it made payments to groups designated as “terrorists” by the United States – including ISIL (ISIS) – in order to protect its plant in Syria, according to a court hearing.

The admission on Tuesday in a Brooklyn federal court marked the first time a company has pleaded guilty in the US to charges of providing “material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization”.