A Yemeni diplomat yesterday defended a cleric countryman who pleaded innocent in Brooklyn to charges he bankrolled Osama bin Laden.
Sheik Mohammed Al Hasan Al-Moayad, who entered his not-guilty plea in Brooklyn federal court yesterday, is accused of funneling $20 million to terrorists before 9/11 – including a large chunk of money from a Brooklyn mosque.
“I met him personally,” Yahya Alshawkani, deputy chief of Yemen’s mission in Washington, told reporters after the hearing for Al-Moayad, whom he described as a prominent Islamic scholar.
“He told me that he defended Yemen from bin Laden and his activities.”