US News

Hate preacher claims pre-planned explosions caused 9/11

Handless hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri showed Thursday that he’s not just a lover of jihad, but also of a good conspiracy theory, no matter how farfetched.

In his second day of testimony in his own defense, al-Masri told jurors that he doesn’t believe the World Trade Center towers were brought down by terrorist-hijacked airliners — but rather by pre-planned explosions moments before the planes hit the Twin Towers.

“People should think before their politicians drag them into bloody war,” he opined.

Al-Masri’s remarks put him on the same page with conspiracy buffs who believe an explosion in the subbasement of the Twin Towers was the catalyst for their collapse.

Earlier, al-Masri told the court how he lost both hands and one eye, saying it happened during a 1993 accidental explosion in Pakistan while he was working at a military facility as a civil engineer for the Pakistani army. Most reports have claimed it was due to fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.

Al-Masri tried to paint himself as a “hero,” saying the Pakistani project involved detonating land mines that would create landslides and block off potential enemies.

Radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, right, gets emotional while giving testimony in Manhattan federal court May 8 in this artist’s sketch.Reuters

He said that during testing, one explosives expert “who was not very good in health and safety” left behind a container with explosive chemicals. He said the “expert” believed the device wouldn’t ignite unless the fuse was lit but failed to factor in that a strip of “foil on the detonator” could trigger a chemical reaction.

He said the container got “hot” and he knew he had to act fast — but ran out of options.

After previously being told “if anything goes wrong to throw” explosives “in the bathroom,” al-Masri said he couldn’t because “someone was washing their hands.” So he held onto the container.

“I felt the explosive,” he said. “I did not go out immediately until I was filled with blood. Then I went into a coma.”

He said the accident wasn’t without benefits.

“People see me as an injured person in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said. “They think I am a hero. Everyone in Europe wants to use me to give talks.”

Al-Masri also found time to laugh and cry.

He broke down in tears twice while talking about the Srebrenica massacre of Bosnian Muslims in 1995.

He also exchanged chuckles with Judge Katherine Forrest while testifying on how simple it was to change his name on his British passport in order to travel to Bosnia in the mid-1990s to provide cars and cash to Muslim fighters.

“It’s simple,” he said. “Pay 25 pounds ($42 in today’s money) and say I want to be John Travolta.”

“Did you go with John Travolta?” the judge asked.

“No, ma’am,” said al-Masri, drawing chuckles from people throughout the packed courtroom.

But al-Masri wasn’t joking when he later voiced his opinions on why it pays for even children to take “weekend training” in “jihad,” offering that at the very least, “They can go to the park, catch a rabbit and feed their family” with the skills they’d pick up.

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