Jailers have been playing give-and-take with hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri’s infamous metal hooks while prison officials figure out what type of prosthetics to provide the handless radical Islamic cleric, his lawyer said yesterday.
“I was told he has his prosthetics for a period of time during the day, and they take them away from him during the evening,” lawyer Jeremy Schneider said after al-Masri’s arraignment in Manhattan federal court, where he appeared before a judge with his bare stumps exposed. below a short-sleeved prison jump-suit. A source said he gets partial hook privileges so he can feed and clean himself.
The terror-loving thug — who called 9/11 “a towering day in history” — sported a new pair of black Asics sneakers when he walked into court, a response to his request for anti-skid shoes to keep him from falling on his face.
Al-Masri, 54, has said he lost his hands and his left eye when a mine exploded while he battled the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s.
He was charged in an 11-count indictment with three terror schemes, including the planned opening of a terrorist training camp in Oregon. He’s also accused in the kidnapping of 16 tourists, including two Americans, in Yemen and with fomenting jihad in Afghanistan.
Schneider entered a not-guilty plea on al-Masri’s behalf, prompting Judge Katherine Forrest to ask if that was his desire.
“Yes, it is,” al-Masri said softly.
Schneider said that al-Masri wants to be addressed by his birth name, Mustafa Kamel Mustafa. Forrest set Aug. 26 for the start of his trial.
Also appearing in court were two terror suspects extradited from England along with al-Masri. Former Osama bin Laden spokesman Khaled al-Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary face an Oct. 7 trial in connection with the al Qaeda bombings of two US embassies in Africa in 1998, which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
Sources have told The Post taxpayers will foot the bill for al-Masri’s cable-operated, replacement rubber hands.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Rosenberg