A pilot who spent five months in Belmarsh prison accused of training September 11 hijackers has filed $10 million claims against both the FBI and US Justice Department for ruining his life, his lawyer says.
Lotfi Raissi, a British-based Algerian who studied at a flight school in Arizona, was arrested in London 10 days after the September 11, 2001 attacks and held at the high-security Belmarsh prison.
Washington accused Raissi, 29, of training some of the hijackers. But he was later cleared of wrongdoing by a British judge, who said US officials had failed to present any evidence to back up accusations that he had links to terrorism.
Lawyer Jules Carey in London said Raissi's legal team had filed claims with the Justice Department and the FBI in the United States seeking damages for wrongful prosecution and imprisonment.
Even though the allegations against him were proved false, no airline will now employ Raissi as a pilot, Carey said.
"The consequences for Mr Raissi have been utterly ruinous," he said. "His entire life, both personal and professional has been blighted by the allegations and it is time for the US and UK authorities to acknowledge their part in his undoing."
A spokesman for the FBI said he was aware that the claims had been filed but could not comment on pending litigation.
Raissi also plans to seek claims against British police and prosecutors, but those cases were still in the preparatory phase and had yet to be filed, Carey said.
