By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
The Geek Squad these men were not, at least according to federal authorities in New York.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged two former Brooklyn men with conspiring to provide material support to Al Qaeda that included providing computer advice, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.
The men, Wesam El-Hanafi, 33, is an American citizen who lived in Brookly and Sabirhan Hasanoff, 34, has dual citizen in the U.S. and Australia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said.
“As alleged in the indictment, Wesam El-Hanafi and Sabirhan Hasanoff conspired to modernize al Qaeda by providing computer systems expertise and other goods and services,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
Authorities charged that El-Hanafi traveled to Yemen in February 2008 and met with two members of al Qaeda.
“While in Yemen, El-Hanafi swore an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda, received instructions from al Qaeda on operatational security measrues, and received assignments to perform for al Qaeda,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
