German lawyers argue guilt of 9/11 suspect

Prosecutors urged a German court today to find a Moroccan man guilty of aiding the September 11th attacks even though he was …

Prosecutors urged a German court today to find a Moroccan man guilty of aiding the September 11th attacks even though he was released last month on the basis of new evidence.

Mr Abdelghani Mzoudi  (31) was freed from custody after German investigators informed the court of secret testimony suggesting he did not belong to the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell instrumental in the September 11th attacks.

But, in summing up his case, prosecutor Mr Walter Hemberger told the Hamburg court he still believed there was sufficient evidence to convict Mr Mzoudi of several thousand counts of aiding and abetting murder and membership of a terrorist organisation.

"There are enough clues which proved the subjective participation in the crime of the accused," Mr Hemberger said. "The federal prosecution is convinced that the accused is guilty."

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Mr Mzoudi, an electrical engineering student, is accused of training at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan and handling money for the Hamburg plotters. His lawyers say this was just helping fellow Muslims and deny he was involved in the conspiracy.

Despite the evidence of the secret testimony, the case has continued and the Moroccan is required to attend court or risk re-arrest. A verdict is expected later this month.

German investigators have not named the source of the new evidence, but the judge and prosecution have said they are convinced it was Ramzi bin al-Shaibah, a key al-Qaeda figure captured in Pakistan in September 2002 and now in US custody.