He fought for his life in court Tuesday with the same vigor he preached jihadists to fight on the battlefield.
Handless hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri got combative while being grilled on the witness stand by Assistant US Attorney John Cronan, repeatedly accusing the prosecutor of taking out of context comments al-Masri previously made on a variety of topics like his “love” of Osama bin Laden and role in a 1998 kidnapping tourists in Yemen that left four people dead.
“You are not after justice! You are after conviction! Thank you!” al-Masri shouted at Cronan during his Manhattan federal court terror trial, waving his right stump side to side in defiance.
After al-Masri conceded that he told Mary Quin, one of the tourists abducted in Yemen, that the kidnapping was “Islamically justified,” Cronan followed up by asking the one-eyed, Egyptian-born cleric if he also told Quin “the bombing of the USS Cole was good thing, like the killing of four tourists.”
“You are comparing figs to oranges,” he fired back.
Al-Masri minutes later became louder and tried to take over the questioning from the witness-stand seat.
“Can you please tell me what day of the week the kidnapping [in Yemen] took place?” he asked Cronan, in an obvious attempt to show jurors the feds don’t know all the facts. “It’s been 16 years since your government has been chasing me.”
“Sir, I will ask the question,” the prosecutor responded.
“What day of the week was it? Please do remind me,” al-Masri countered.
After Judge Katherine Forrest intervened and asked al-Masri to answer the prosecutor’s question about the Yemen kidnapping group’s leader, the terror suspect remained stubborn.
“Madam, I do understand the question, but I want him to answer what day of the week,” he told Forrest.
Cronan never did answer al-Masri’s question.
Al-Masri also tried to deflect many of Cronan’s questions. Al-Masri accused him of taking his remarks about 9/11 and other topics out of context by only playing audio or reciting certain parts of older interviews for the jury.
“Why don’t you tell the whole thing,” he said. “Cut and paste is not healthy for justice.”
When asked to explain a previous declaration he made about bin Laden being a “hero,” al-Masri called the late al Qaeda leader “a hero of the past,” adding that “everyone has good and bad in him.”
Al-Masri also repeated claims he made days earlier, saying he’s just another conspiracy buff who believes the World Trade Center towers weren’t brought down by terrorist-hijacked airliners – but rather by pre-planned explosions moments before the planes hit the Twin Towers.
“These structures are anti-aircraft collision structures…This is why I am asking for an investigation,” he said.
Al-Masri, 56, is accused of conspiring in the Yemen kidnapping, attempting to set up a jihadist training camp in Oregon and other terror crimes. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors are expected to begin closing arguments Wednesday.