Jury selection starts in New York trial of Egyptian preacher charged with supporting al-Qaida
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Jury selection is set to begin in the New York trial of an Egyptian Islamic preacher extradited from Great Britain on charges he conspired to support al-Qaida.
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa (muh-STAH’-fuh kah-MEHL’ muh-STAH’-fuh) has alerted his lawyers and the judge that he intends to testify. He faces charges he conspired to support al-Qaida by trying in 1999 to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and by helping abduct two American tourists and 14 others in Yemen in 1998. Four hostages died.
He has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Jeremy Schneider, says the government is trying to taint the jury by talking about the Sept. 11 attacks and Osama bin Laden. Mustafa was brought to the United States for trial in fall 2012.
Jury selection begins Monday.
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