An accused terrorist linked to Osama bin Laden has been charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to kill Americans, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Christian Ganczarski, who went by several aliases including Ibrahim the German, traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan at least five times from 1999 through 2001, according to officials.
A German national, Ganczarski, had personal relationships with top al Qaeda operatives including bin Laden, Abu Hafs el Masri, Saif al Adel and Khaled Shaikh Mohammad, the feds said.
Ganczarski gave technical support to al Qaeda by providing them with hardware such as computers and radios, according to prosecutors.
He had been in Germany on 9/11, prosecutors said.
Ganczarski returned to Afghanistan in October 2001, and that November, he and others attempted to fix al Qaeda-controlled anti-aircraft missiles so they could shoot down a US military aircraft that was flying over the area at the time.
He is charged with conspiracy to kill US nationals, providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and conspiring to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda.
Ganczarski — who is currently in France awaiting extradition — faces up to life in prison if convicted.
He was convicted in France for a 2002 al Qaeda attack on a synagogue in Djerba, Tunisis that left 21 people dead.
Last week while in a French jail serving an 18-year prison sentence on that conviction, Ganczarski attacked three prison guards with a knife prompting protests by local prison guards who demanded more staffing and better protocol on the handling of violent inmates.