Khaled el-Masri, the German whose abduction as a supposed terrorist caused an international furore, faces a charge of assault after punching a welfare manager, prosecutors said. El-Masri, a Lebanese-born Muslim, allegedly lost his temper Monday when the counsellor rebuked him for repeatedly failing to show up for lessons. El-Masri, 43, is unemployed and was being retrained as a truck driver (!) at public expense. Prosecutors in his hometown, Ulm, confirmed an assault inquiry. A newspaper, Suedwest Presse, said a training firm had been hired to groom el-Masri for a job, but his attendance at the driving course which began in early December had been poor. The counsellor spent three days in hospital with his injuries after being beaten up, the newspaper said. Manfred Gnjidic, el-Masri's lawyer, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, "Masri is very sorry about what happened. If he did lose his control, because of the severe trauma he has been through, he is going to apologize to the victim and take responsibility for it." | And in other news: |
Snicker.