The sales pitch was passionate : sprawling land along a desolate stretch of Oregon highway , ready to be turned into a pay-as-you-go terrorist training camp . `` It looks just like Afghanistan , '' wrote Earnest James Ujaama in his letter to prominent London cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri . Ujaama asked for trainers in both the physical and spiritual aspects of holy war to be sent from London , so fighters could be readied for the Afghanistan frontlines for a hefty per-person fee . Ujaama is a pivotal witness against al-Masri in his federal trial on terrorism-related charges and testified in a Manhattan courtroom Wednesday about his bumbling efforts to start an al Qaeda-style training camp in the United States . The Egyptian-born al-Masri , whose fiery rhetoric allegedly set the likes of failed `` shoe bomber '' Richard Reid and 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta on the path to radicalization , was extradited to the United States in 2012 after an extended legal battle . Among the allegations against him is the claim he aided in terrorism efforts by sending two men carrying cash and training materials to Oregon in response to Ujaama 's pitch . He could face life in prison if convicted . Defense lawyer Joshua Dratel told the jury during his opening statement that no evidence shows his client gave directions or orders relating to the alleged crimes . Rather , he was merely a `` commenter on events and issues '' when he praised Osama bin Laden in his sermons and celebrated the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington . `` These are ideas , not acts , '' he said . `` These are expressions , not crimes . '' During his testimony Wednesday , Ujaama said his letter to al-Masri promised scores of eager recruits who had already pledged their loyalty to the preacher , along with a hillside hiding place and personal security detail when he arrived at the camp . They were amassing stockpiles of weapons and building living facilities , even a mosque , Ujaama wrote . In reality , only two run-down trailers sat atop the barren ranch land , but Ujaama reasoned that things could be taken one step at a time : `` If he accepted it , I 'd know I had a buy-in and I 'd start building . '' Al-Masri 's presence was crucial to getting the cash flow started , he testified . `` He 'd be the star attraction . '' When Ujaama called al-Masri to confirm he had received the detailed note and draft for a camp advertising flier , al-Masri first berated him for being careless and risking law enforcement interception , testified Ujaama , who faxed his letter to the high-profile British mosque leader from a Kinko 's near his home in Tacoma , Washington . Al-Masri nevertheless agreed to support the transatlantic venture , Ujaama said . Another witness , Eva Hatley , whose husband owned the property , testified last week she had envisioned it as a `` kitchen farm '' where women from their Seattle Muslim community could come to learn to grow vegetables , canning and raising animals . Hatley and her former friend Angela Morris said Ujaama arrived with al-Masri 's men in December 1999 and that the pair 's apparent leader was a physically imposing , temperamental man who claimed to have served as Osama bin Laden 's bodyguard . When he saw the conditions at the ranch , he flew into a rage . `` He was very upset . There were no men , there were no weapons , there was no hole for Abu Hamza , '' Hatley testified . She said the men discussed a plan to kill Ujaama and take his pregnant wife hostage until she gave birth to their child , after which they would kill her as well and take the infant . Despite the disappointing state of affairs , al-Masri ordered the men to stay and continue the effort for several weeks , Hatley testified . They conducted perimeter checks and did calisthenics , and once made Morris ' mentally disabled teen brother kneel in the dirt for a throat-slitting demonstration , according to testimony . Hatley decided she had finally had enough when the men demanded she use a password to exit her own doublewide trailer , the soft-spoken woman testified . `` I got in his face about that , '' she said . Not long after that , the men abandoned the effort and returned to Europe . After his 2002 arrest , Ujaama himself faced charges of aiding terrorists through the Oregon plot and escorting a recruit from London to training in Afghanistan , allegedly on orders from al-Masri . He was released in 2010 as part of an agreement to testify for the government . The trial of al-Masri opened less than a month after Osama bin Laden 's son-in-law , Sulaiman Abu Ghaith , was found guilty in the same Manhattan federal courthouse of helping al Qaeda members conspire to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists . Prosecutors said Abu Ghaith , a Kuwaiti cleric , played a crucial role as the organization 's principal mouthpiece and recruiter , helping `` restore al Qaeda 's trove of new terrorists '' as deadly missions turned its members into martyrs . Al-Masri cuts an unusual figure in the courtroom ; missing one eye and both hands , he wears an occasional writing prosthesis on his right forearm rather than the infamous hook-like device he 's often seen sporting in photographs . Opting for comfort , he asked his attorneys for sweat pants and T-shirts for the proceedings rather than a suit . He has said he plans to testify in his on defense . Ujaama resumes his testimony on Thursday .
London cleric Abu Omar al - Masri is on trial in federal court on terrorism - related charges . Al - Masri had a plan to build a terrorist training camp in Oregon , he testifies . Al - Qaeda sent two men to the camp , the owner 's wife tells jury .