Christian Ganczarski was born in Poland and later converted to Islam. He allegedly had personal ties to former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and helped the organization carry out multiple terrorist attacks.
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The United States is seeking to extradite a German convict who allegedly gave al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden critical support before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, New York prosecutors said Wednesday.
Department of Justice officials accused Christian Ganczarski of conspiracy to kill US citizens, providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida.
Ganczarski, who was born in Poland and later converted to Islam, allegedly met multiple times with senior leaders of the terrorist organization between 1999 and 2001 and developed close personal ties with bin Laden.
He "had been aware that a significant event was about to occur" while he was in Germany shortly before the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
9/11 Museum opens
Personal belongings, plane fragments, heartbreaking voicemails, thousands of photos: President Barack Obama inaugurates the National September 11 Memorial & Museum before it opens to the general public on May 21.
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An unsettling journey
Cards and mementos of those who died at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, are a tiny part of the many heart-wrenching personal items, photos, burnt and twisted vehicles on display at the new National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York.
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Monument to resilience
The museum houses more than 10,000 artifacts and was built where the Twin Towers once stood near a permanent memorial that opened three years ago. It opens to the general public on May 21, and will be open to victims' families, survivors, first responders, workers, and local residents for a six-day dedication period beforehand.
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Descent into the dark
The salvaged girders from the World Trade Center rise into the museum's airy entrance pavilion. The rest of the impressive museum space is below ground, with ramps that lead visitors on an emotional journey that retraces the tragedy.
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Plunge into chaos
Photographs and videos document the events of that day, showing images of the towers collapsing and people falling from them. Voices heard in a darkened room express the shock and horror.
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Mangled remains
What is left of a television and radio antenna from the North Tower bears testimony to the brutality of the suicide attack on that fateful day almost 13 years ago.
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Frantic flight
Heartbreaking items, like the dust-covered shoes of those who fled the skyscrapers' collapse, are arranged in display cases.
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Heroic efforts
A firetruck with a twisted ladder commemorates the sacrifices of 343 firefighters who died in the deluge of fire and steel that accompanied the towers' collapse.
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Survivors' stairs
Dark corridors are filled with the voices of people remembering the chaos of 9/11 as visitors walk past the battered "survivors' staircase" from a nearby street that hundreds used to escape the burning towers.
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The hijackers
The visit ends in a room where a video explains the rise of al-Qaeda. Some critics have expressed concern it could lead museum visitors to associate the terrorist group with Islam in general.
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The power of memory
President Barack Obama and a group of survivors and victims' families marked the opening of the museum. Obama is mindful of "the need to remember and the power of memory in a nation's history, as well as the need to properly grieve and rebuild," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
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Ganczarski also provided al-Qaida "with the knowledge and technology to carry out attacks against the US military and its allies," US Attorney Dana Boente said, and lived in al-Qaida camps while planning bomb attacks against US embassies in Africa.
He injured three guards at a prison in northern France last week with a pair of scissors and a razor blade after hearing he could be extradited to the US.
If convicted in the US, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
