| A Minnesota man claiming to have links to top al-Qaida leaders was being held in Manhattan, NewsChannel 4 reported. Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi, 41, is suspected of helping the Taliban in the mid-1990s from his business in Queens. The FBI was holding him as a material witness after he appeared before a federal judge on Friday. The Minnesota man, born in Lebanon, faces a charge of lying to federal agents. Federal prosecutors said that while living in New York, he shipped walkie-talkies to Pakistan that wound up in the hands of the Taliban. Officials said that some of those radios were found by U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. After finding out about him earlier this year -- officials did not say how -- the FBI questioned him in Minnesota. Elzahabi was ultimately moved to New York for further questioning. Authorities said that when he stopped being talkative, he was formally charged. Officials said further charges could follow as they continue to investigate his past. Elzahabi was being held without bond in Manhattan’s federal correction facility until he can be returned to Minnesota, authorities said. |