Feds seek to bring alleged bin Laden associate to NYC on terrorism charges

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Wednesday said they were seeking the extradition of Christian Ganczarski, a German national currently jailed in France, who was allegedly an associate of Osama bin Laden, to face terrorism charges in New York.

Ganczarski, according to a new indictment charging him with conspiracy to kill Americans, consorted with bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders like Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad from 1999 to 2001, helped plan plots and provided technical support for computers, radios and weapons systems.

Ganczarski, 51, has been jailed in France for 15 years on charges relating to a 2002 al-Qaida attack on a synagogue in Tunisia. If extradited to the United States and convicted, he would face life in prison.