Al-Masri pleads not guilty, trial is set for August

An Egyptian-born nightclub bouncer turned extremist preacher will get his hook hands back — but only to eat and shower, a law enforcement source said Tuesday.

Abu Hamza al-Masri, 54, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court to setting up a terror-training camp in Seattle, and the judge set a trial date for August.

His lawyer’s request for the return of his prosthetic limbs — which were confiscated for safety reasons — was not immediately granted.

“You can’t have someone with hooks in jail,” said the source.

Prison doctors at the Metropolitan Correctional Center are working to get the one-eyed terror suspect fitted with safer, jail-proofed prosthetics.

Until then, he’ll be allowed to use his existing hooks to eat and bathe.

Masri was flown to New York on Saturday after a lengthy extradition battle in Britain.

He made a second court appearance to plead not guilty to an 11-count indictment that charges him with conspiring to establish a jihad camp in Oregon in 1999. He’s also suspected of helping Al Qaeda abduct 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998, resulting in the death of four Western tourists.

“Is your plea not guilty?” Manhattan Federal Court Judge Katherine Forrest asked Masri.

"Yes, it is," he replied.

He also said he wanted to be addressed in court as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa.

Forrest set an Aug. 26, 2013, trial date to give prosecutors time to provide the defense with the voluminous evidence it has gathered against Masri.

Masri appeared before Forrest in short-sleeved prison garb without his hooks and with a new court-appointed defense attorney, Jeremy Schneider.

After court, Schneider said Masri was having a hard time behind bars.

“He doesn't have his hands,” Schneider said.

“It's hard with his disability and with the security restrictions, it’s even more difficult,” the lawyer said.

Masri's sermons at a London mosque attracted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and infamous shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Two other extradited terror suspects were also in court for a conference before Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan.

Adel Abdel Bary, 52, and Khalid al-Fawwaz, 50, are charged with particpating in the Al Qaeda conspiracy to blow up U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 that left 224 people dead, including 12 Americans.

Kaplan set an Oct. 7, 2013 trial date for Bary and al-Fawwaz.

By Robert Gearty / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS