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| 'Terror' whiz kid sues US |
| 2012-05-22 |
| [NY Post] He may be locked in prison facing federal terrorism charges -- but he has his pride! Accused al Qaeda techno-geek Wesam El-Hanafi has filed a $1 million defamation and libel suit against a federal prosecutor who accused him of working to modernize the terror network's IT capabilities. The Brooklyn-born brainiac, 36, contends Assistant US Attorney John Cronan created a "state of false panic" by charging that he bought seven Casio digital watches like those used as timers for terrorist bombs. But El-Hanafi insists he bought the watches with his credit card in 2009 as surprise gifts for his brothers -- not for bombs -- said Walid El-Hanafi, 34, the accused terrorist's brother. And the suit claims that FBI agents and the NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force never questioned any of his brothers about the watches or bothered to search the homes where the Casios had been sent. "This is nonsense," Walid El-Hanafi said. "And we can attest to that." The government also charged that he met with al Qaeda thugs in Yemen in 2008 -- another claim his brother and the suit deny. "There was no al Qaeda meeting," the suspect's brother said. A spokeswoman for the Manhattan US Attorney's Office declined to comment. |
| Posted by:Fred |