Posted on 07/12/2002 5:14:34 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
SYDNEY, Australia, Jul 12, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A Sydney man being held by U.S. authorities on suspicion of training with al-Qaida in Afghanistan had previously been in contact with two men convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, his lawyer said Friday.
Mamdouh Habib, an Australian who also holds Egyptian citizenship, is being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba after his arrest last year in Pakistan.
The father of four denies any link with Osama bin Laden's terror organization and claims he was looking for a school for his children when he was arrested.
His Sydney-based attorney, Stephen Hopper, told Australian television that Habib visited New York in 1991 and met a man who later was convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Another man convicted in the bombing spoke to Habib several times trying to get him to raise money for his defense.
"He got Mamdouh's details and rang him up in Australia a couple of times and asked him to raise money for the legal fighting fund," Hopper told Channel 7.
He did not give further details on the men Habib spoke to, and Hopper could not immediately be contacted Friday for further comment.
Hopper also claimed that Australia's spy agency, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization, had tried to recruit Habib before the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
"Mamdouh said: 'No way. I'm not going to be a spy for anybody,"' Hopper said.
The spy agency declined comment on the claim.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
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