US pays $300,000 to Egyptian held after 9/11

THE US government has agreed to pay $300,000 (€252,000) to an Egyptian man who was detained for nearly a year following the September 11, 2001, attacks, but was never linked to terrorism.

The settlement was filed in Brooklyn, said lawyer Haeyoung Yoon, who represents Ehab Elmaghraby. She said she believed it was the first settlement involving the claims of people detained after the attacks.

Mr Elmaghraby, a former restaurant worker, was held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn from October 1, 2001, until August 2002, Yoon said.