Student denies perjury charge

New York - A San Diego college student who knew two of the suspected hijackers involved in the September 11th attack on the Pentagon…

New York - A San Diego college student who knew two of the suspected hijackers involved in the September 11th attack on the Pentagon pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges he lied to a grand jury investigating the strikes in Washington and New York.

Mr Osama Awadallah (21), a Jordanian citizen attending Grossmont College, was indicted last week on two charges of perjury for denying that he knew Khalid Al-Midhar, one of five men who allegedly hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed it into the Pentagon, killing 189 people.

Mr Awadallah entered his not guilty plea in Manhattan federal court before US District Judge Shira Scheindlin. He is being held in a Manhattan federal prison and a bail hearing was set for November 21st. The perjury indictment also said that videotapes titled Martyrs of Bosnia, Bosnia 1993 and The Koran vs. The Bible, Which is God's Word were found in Mr Awadallah's car and that computer-generated pictures of Osama bin Laden were found in his apartment.

Mr Awadallah could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted.