Hook-handed terror suspect’s diatribe strengthens feds’ case

A federal judge overseeing the terror trial of Abu Hamza al-Masri dealt the handless hate preacher a serious blow Tuesday by allowing his own damning words to be used against him — including his praise for Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 terror attacks and his disdain for Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims.

Two days before opening statements are to take place, Manhattan federal Judge Karen Forrest in a 47-page opinion said she found most of the government’s evidence admissible – including a series of video and audio tapes in which al-Masri spews hateful comments against the West and openly supports the World Trade Center attacks. Her ruling significantly helps the feds make their case that the one-eyed hook-handed terror suspect was very willing to support al Qaeda.

Among the key evidence cited is an undated interview with a British TV service in which al-Masri “states ‘it’s okay to kill’ people acting against the Muslim holy war ‘by slitting their throats, or shooting them'” and “that he approves of using airplanes to kill.”

“Everybody was happy when the planes hit the World Trade Center,” he says. ” Anybody who tell [sic] you he was not happy, they are hypocrites for the Muslim Nation.”

Abu Hamza al-Masri in a 2012 court sketch.Reuters

Other eye-popping statements by al-Masri, according to the document, that the feds will be able to provide for jurors include:

A June 2002 interview where he refers to bin Laden as “a reformer, a victim of American policies, and a good-hearted person.”

An undated statement in which he’s quoted ranting that Jews “deserve the anger of Allah…Everybody wants to kill them. Hitler wants to kill them. The dogs run after them.”

An undated propaganda video, titled “The Importance of Training,” in which he warns parents to “send their children to be trained in jihad so they can be sent to the ‘front line’s.” He later states, “you can’t live without a gun these days,” and “we also want financial help for the front lines.”

Al-Masri, 55, is accused of conspiring in a 1998 kidnapping in Yemen that resulted in the deaths of four tourists, attempting to set a jihadist training camp in Oregon and committing other terror crimes. He faces life in prison if convicted.

Joshua Dratel, a lawyer for al-Masri did not immediately respond to messages. However, he and the rest of the terror suspect’s legal team have previously argued that the recordings of al-Masri supporting attacks against non-Muslims would unfairly taint jurors’ opinions, making it unlikely for him to get a fair verdict.