By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN and LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - An
extremist Egyptian-born preacher entered a U.S. courtroom Saturday for
the first time to face multiple terrorism charges, complaining that his
prosthetic hooks, medication and special shoes were taken away from him.
The preacher was one of five terror defendants rounded up in Britain
and extradited overnight to the U.S.
Abu Hamza al-Masri was
surrounded by several marshals in a Manhattan courtroom as he faced
charges he conspired with Seattle men to set up a terrorist training
camp in Oregon and helped abduct 16 hostages, two of them American
tourists, in Yemen in 1998.
The 54-year-old,
white-haired Al-Masri exposed both of his arms through his short-sleeved
prison shirt. His court-appointed lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, asked that
al-Masri, indicted under the name Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, have his
prosthetics immediately returned "so he can use his arms."
In the 1990s, al-Masri
turned London's Finsbury Park Mosque into a training ground for
extremist Islamists, attracting men including Sept. 11 conspirator
Zacarias Moussaoui and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.
Al-Masri - jailed since
2004 in Britain on separate charges - was flown overnight to New York
from London along with four others accused of U.S. embassy bombings in
Africa and with helping terror operations in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
The men, who could all face life in prison, have been battling
extradition for between eight to 14 years.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the extraditions "a watershed moment in our nation's efforts to eradicate terrorism."
"As is charged, these are
men who were at the nerve centers of al-Qaida's acts of terror, and they
caused blood to be shed, lives to be lost, and families to be
shattered."
In New York's federal
court, Khaled al-Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary, entered not guilty pleas to
charges that they participated in the bombings of embassies in Tanzania
and Kenya in 1998. The attacks killed 224 people, including 12
Americans. They were indicted in a case that also charged Osama bin
Laden.
In New Haven, Conn., Syed
Talha Ahsan, 33, and Babar Ahmad, 38, entered not guilty pleas to
charges that they provided terrorists in Afghanistan and Chechnya with
cash, recruits and equipment.
Al-Masri, a one-time
nightclub bouncer, entered no plea, saying only "I do" when he was asked
by U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Maas whether he swears that his
financial affidavit used to determine if he qualifies for a
court-appointed lawyer was correct.
Shroff told Maas that al-Masri needed use of his arms. "Otherwise, he will not be able to function in a civilized manner."
She also asked for a
dictating machine, saying he can't take notes, the return of his
diabetes medication and special shoes that prevent him from slipping.
She said he will need a special diet and a full medical evaluation in
prison.
Al-Masri peered through
glasses as he consulted with Shroff and another court-appointed lawyer,
Jerrod Thompson-Hicks, in a proceeding that lasted less than 15 minutes.
Al-Masri has one eye and
claims to have lost his hands fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. His
lawyers in England said he suffers from depression, chronic sleep
deprivation, diabetes and other ailments.
"I don't think he slept at
all" on the overnight flight and hadn't eaten since arriving in New York
at 2:40 a.m., Shroff said outside court. Still, she added, "He seemed
very much like a gentleman."
Shroff and Thompson-Hicks
also represented al-Fawwaz, 50, a citizen of Saudi Arabia.
Thompson-Hicks said he was concerned whether his client would be
properly treated for hypertension and high blood pressure. Attorney
Andrew Patel, representing Bary, 52, an Egyptian citizen, said his
client needed asthma medicine and treatment for other medical issues.
Patel, who declined to comment afterward, told Maas that Bary reserved the right to request bail in the future.
Four others who were tried in 2001 in the August 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania are serving life sentences.
Ahsan, 33, and Ahmad, 38,
were kept detained while they await trial in Connecticut, where an
Internet service provider was allegedly used to host a website. Their
lawyers declined to comment.
Ahmad made efforts to
secure GPS devices, Kevlar helmets, night vision goggles, ballistic
vests and camouflage uniforms, prosecutors said.
Al-Masri is not the first
Egyptian-born preacher to be brought to Manhattan for trial. A blind
sheik, Omar Abdel-Rahman, is serving a life sentence after he was
convicted in 1995 in a plot to assassinate then-Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak and in another to blow up New York landmarks, including the
United Nations and two tunnels and a bridge linking New Jersey to
Manhattan. Abdel-Rahman has numerous health issues, including heart
trouble.
The overnight trip to the
United States came after a multiyear extradition fight that ended
Friday, when Britain's High Court ruled that the men had no more grounds
for appeal and could be sent to the U.S. immediately.
"I'm absolutely delighted
that Abu Hamza is now out of this country," British Prime Minister David
Cameron said. "Like the rest of the public, I'm sick to the back teeth
of people who come here, threaten our country, who stay at vast expense
to the taxpayer and we can't get rid of them."
"I'm delighted on this occasion we've managed to send this person off to a country where he will face justice," he added.
Al-Masri has been in a
British jail since 2004 on charges of inciting racial hatred and
encouraging followers to kill non-Muslims.
While al-Masri has been
portrayed in the British media as one of the most dangerous men in the
country, the case against Ahmad in Connecticut has raised concerns among
legal experts and human rights advocates.
Some lawyers and lawmakers
have expressed concerns because Britain agreed to extradite the London
computer expert even though his alleged crimes were committed in
Britain; British courts declined to prosecute him for lack of evidence.
Ahmad and Ahsan are accused of running websites to support Afghanistan's
ousted Taliban regime, Chechen rebels and associated terrorist groups.
___
Christoffersen reported
from New Haven, Conn. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Sylvia
Hui in London contributed to this report.
Copyright
2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
