Epila used an image of former Al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to help flog its wares - but insisted it didn't know he was a terrorist
A cosmetics company has apologised after using a photo of the terror chief behind the 9/11 attacks to advertise its HAIR REMOVAL products.
Epila used an image of hairy former Al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in an advert for products designed to get rid of excess follicles.
The picture of a hirsute Mohammed is accompanied by a caption in Turkish which reads: "Waiting won't get rid of that hair."
However, the firm said the photo of the Islamist militant was used "for his hair, not terrorism".
Spokesman Mehmet Can Yildiz told Hurriyet Daily News: "We didn't know that he was a terrorist.
"This image is in popular use in Turkish memes on the internet.
"The guy is quite hairy, so we thought his body was a good fit for our ad."
He added: "Several popular caps [humourously captioned images] were produced with his photo.
"Most were related to insomnia.
"We didn't want to imply anything political.
"We didn't know that it could become an international story."
Mohammed is being held in Guantanamo Bay prison on Cuba and could face the death penalty if he is found guilty of plotting the terror attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001.
