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U.S. government imposed harsh restrictions on terror suspect, lawyers say

The Associated Press By The Associated Press The Associated Press
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on January 14, 2013 at 11:27 AM, updated January 14, 2013 at 11:30 AM
bly.JPG View full size A gate blocks entrance to a ranch about 5 miles East of Bly, Ore., where Abu Hamza Al-Masri, also known as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, is accused of trying to establish a terrorist camp. The Muslim cleric whose London Mosque was linked to Zacarias Moussaoui and shoe bomber Richard Reid is in New York awaiting trial.  
NEW YORK — Lawyers for an Egyptian Islamic preacher extradited from Great Britain in a terrorism case say the U.S. government has imposed harsh pretrial restrictions.

The lawyers say special administrative measures were imposed about a week ago on Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, who is better known as Abu Hamza al-Masri.

They say that severely limits his communications and what he can read at a federal lockup in Manhattan.

Attorney Lindsay Lewis says the restrictions are more difficult for a defendant who has trouble getting around because he has no hands.

He has pleaded not guilty to conspiring with Seattle men to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon. He's also accused of helping abduct two American tourists and 14 other people in Yemen in 1998.

Prosecutors did not immediately return a message for comment.

-- The Associated Press