DOJ Wants Alleged Al-Qaeda Member Extradited From France, Charged With Aiding Terrorists

An alleged accomplice of terrorist group Al-Qaeda who is currently serving a prison sentence in France has been charged with conspiracy to kill U.S citizens and aiding terrorists, as stated by a superseding indictment which was unsealed in a Manhattan federal court in the Southern District of New York, Wednesday.

According to a press release, Christian Ganczarski, a German national, who was also known as Abu Mohamed, Ibrahim, Abu Mohamed al Amani, was charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and conspiring and giving material support to terrorists especially the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: "Christian Ganczarski, a German national, allegedly provided critical support to the most prolific terrorists of our time."

"Today we publicly announce charges against Ganczarski alleging that he participated in the planning of plots to kill Americans with high-level al Qaeda terrorists Khaled Shaikh Mohammad, Usama bin Laden, and others," Berman added.

He also stated that the unsealing of the indictment signaled the dedication of the Attorney’s Office towards prosecuting the people who plan to hurt U.S. citizens.

According to Dana J. Boente, acting assistant attorney general, Ganczarski, between the years 1999 to 2001, was in regular communication with Al-Qaeda leadership members who were responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks. Boente also stated that Ganczarski provided the terror outfit "knowledge and technology" to deploy terrorist attacks against U.S. and the country’s allies.

Boente said: "This case demonstrates the National Security Division’s resolve to find and bring to justice, terrorists who target U.S. interests in any part of the world. I want to thank all of the prosecutors, agents and analysts who made this result possible."

The U.S. is currently trying to extradite Ganczarski from France, the report said.

According to a report by France 24, Ganczarski, who would be eligible for extradition, attacked four guards with a blade weapon last week, in the northern France prison Vendin-le-Vieil.

Jean-Francois Forget, the secretary general of the UFAP-UNSA penitentiary union said: "The head of the establishment told him [Ganczarski] that he would be extradited to the United States where he is suspected of being one of the organizers of the September 11 attacks."

"He was recorded in a telephone call saying he would do something to stay in France," Forget said.

The prosecutors commenced a counter-terrorism investigation into the attack, which would result in a delay of the extradition process, the report stated.

Assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, William F. Sweeney Jr., stated that Ganczarski kept himself in social circles that included Osama Bin Laden and one of the hijackers involved in the 9/11 attacks. Sweeney Jr. also said Ganczarski allegedly took part in attempts to kill American people as he provided technological support and also organized meetings between senior leaders in the terrorist organization, the press release said.

"While he’s spent the past fifteen years behind bars in France, we haven’t forgotten his [Ganczarski] allegiance to those who have threatened our interests both at home and abroad," Sweeney Jr. said.

The press release also stated that in 2000, Ganczarski went to attend a speech given by Bin Laden at Al-Qaeda headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The attendants at the event included high level leaders which included the ones who planned the 1998 bombing attack on U.S. embassies in East Africa.

Ganczarski was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2009 for being the mastermind behind the attacks on the island of Djerba, Tunisia, which led to the death of 21 people.