- News>
- World
Trial of second accused in 9/11 attacks begins in Germany
Berlin, Aug 11: A Moroccan suspect in the plot behind the September 11, 2001 attacks goes on trial in Germany on Thursday, in a case that could shed new light on the conspiracy behind the worst atrocity on US soil in 60 years.
Berlin, Aug 11: A Moroccan suspect in the plot behind the September 11, 2001 attacks goes on trial in Germany on Thursday, in a case that could shed new light on the conspiracy behind the worst atrocity on US soil in 60 years.
The defendant, 30-year-old student Abdelghani Mzoudi, is only the second man worldwide to face judgment on the suicide hijackings that killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The opening of the trial comes nearly six months to the day after a fellow Moroccan, 29-year-old Mounir el Motassadeq, was given the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison on charges including accessory to murder for playing a key logistical role in the plotting of the attacks.
The case against Mzoudi is strikingly similar. Mzoudi, who was arrested in October 2002, has also been charged with accessory to murder in 3,066 cases, based on the estimated number of victims in the attacks, as well as membership in a terrorist organization.
Both men are thought to have been members of the so-called Hamburg cell of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network that produced three of the attackers including Mohammed Atta.
Atta is believed to have been the hijackers' ringleader and the man who ploughed the first of two passenger planes into the World Trade Center towers.
Like Motassadeq, Mzoudi is accused of having full knowledge of the plot before the attacks, attending an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan where the details were hashed out, and arranging money transfers for the conspirators.
Bureau Report
The defendant, 30-year-old student Abdelghani Mzoudi, is only the second man worldwide to face judgment on the suicide hijackings that killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The opening of the trial comes nearly six months to the day after a fellow Moroccan, 29-year-old Mounir el Motassadeq, was given the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison on charges including accessory to murder for playing a key logistical role in the plotting of the attacks.
The case against Mzoudi is strikingly similar. Mzoudi, who was arrested in October 2002, has also been charged with accessory to murder in 3,066 cases, based on the estimated number of victims in the attacks, as well as membership in a terrorist organization.
Both men are thought to have been members of the so-called Hamburg cell of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network that produced three of the attackers including Mohammed Atta.
Atta is believed to have been the hijackers' ringleader and the man who ploughed the first of two passenger planes into the World Trade Center towers.
Like Motassadeq, Mzoudi is accused of having full knowledge of the plot before the attacks, attending an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan where the details were hashed out, and arranging money transfers for the conspirators.
Bureau Report