NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Lawyers for Muslim cleric Sheik Abu Hamza al-Masri, awaiting trial on terrorism charges in New York, asked a judge to move him to another prison.
Lawyer Joshua Dratel said Monday the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan lacked "the facilities he [al-Masri] needs," and requested U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest move al-Masri, who has only one eye and hooks for hands, to move him to a prison in Devon, Mass., equipped to serve inmates with long-term medical problems.
Al-Masri, 55, was extradited from Britain and named in an 11-count indictment in 2004, charging him with supporting the Taliban, plotting to establish an al-Qaida training camp in Oregon and aiding in a 1998 attack in Yemen that left four hostages dead, the New York Daily News reported.
Forrest made no ruling on the request Monday. Lawyers intend to ask the Federal Bureau of Prisons for the transfer, the newspaper said.
