U.S. Denies Key Witness At German 9/11 Retrial
By Mark Trevelyan
Tuesday, August 10, 2004 "Reuters" -- HAMBURG, Germany -- Washington has barred German judges access to al Qaeda captives in the retrial of the only Sept. 11 suspect ever convicted, a Hamburg court heard on Tuesday, throwing the case into doubt.
Mounir Motassadeq, 30, is charged with plotting the 2001 attacks with Mohamed Atta and others, and membership of a terrorist organization.
His first conviction was overturned because judges had no access to a key al Qaeda figure in U.S. custody.
In a letter to the German embassy in Washington, read out in court, U.S. authorities said they had to protect the sources and methods of the security services.
The letter said "interactive access" to such prisoners could hamper their interrogation and lead to critical secret information, including about terrorist threats, being divulged.
The U.S. decision casts doubts on the new proceedings.
In February 2003, Motassadeq became the first person anywhere to be tried over the Sept. 11 attacks and he remains the only person convicted. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
In March this year a higher court ruled the verdict unsatisfactory as judges had no access to testimony from Ramzi Binalshibh, a key member of the al Qaeda Hamburg cell who was captured in Pakistan in 2002. It ordered a new trial.
The German authorities asked the United States in May to give them access to six key witnesses including Binalshibh, but the U.S. letter said even information on whether a given individual was in custody was classified as secret.
It said it was not possible for the United States to confirm whether the persons named, who also include top al Qaeda figure Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were in U.S. custody or not.
The issue has led to tension between Germany and the United States, which clearly wants a conviction in the case but is unwilling to allow testimony from the interrogation of al Qaeda captives to be aired in open court.
Washington reacted angrily when Motassadeq was freed from custody in April, describing him as dangerous.
Presiding judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt promised the accused a fair trial independent of the wishes of the government and one that would provide a definitive answer as to his involvement.
"The black hole in the chain of evidence will close. We will certainly not sink into it," he said as the bearded Motassadeq listened intently.
The case largely revolves around bin al-Shaibah, who boasted to an Al Jazeera reporter in 2002 of his role in masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks. He and suicide pilots Mohamed Atta, Ziad Jarrah and Marwan al-Shehhi formed the core of the Hamburg cell.
The successful prosecution at Motassadeq's first trial hinged on his close friendship with these men, on financial transfers he made for al-Shehhi and on his admission that he trained at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.
The defense argued Motassadeq simply followed thousands of others in going to Afghanistan, and his support for the others was just helping fellow-Muslims in a foreign land.
Manfred Murck, deputy head of Hamburg domestic intelligence, said Motassadeq had renewed militant contacts since his release.
"He met some of his old friends at the mosque. He showed he's still part of the scene of radical Muslims," Murck told Reuters on the eve of the trial.
But he said Motassadeq posed more of a "general danger" than a direct threat.
"He has good reason to be careful," Murck said.
© 2004 Reuters
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