A German court in Hamburg today convicted a Moroccan man suspected of helping the September 11 hijackers of membership in a terrorist organisation and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

A German court in Hamburg today convicted a Moroccan man, charged with helping the September 11 hijackers, of membership in a terrorist organisation and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

A senior planner of the September 11 2001 attacks said the Hamburg al-Qaida cell was smaller than investigators believed, consisting only of himself and three of the suicide pilots, a German court was told in the first public release of statements by suspects in US custody.

A key al-Qaida captive in US custody told interrogators that a Moroccan on trial for helping the Hamburg-based September 11 suicide pilots had no knowledge of the plot, according to a summary read out in court in Hamburg today.

The re-trial of the only September 11 terror suspect ever convicted opened today with the United States under pressure to allow testimony by alleged key al-Qaida operatives in its custody.

LAWYERS for the only man convicted over the September 11 attacks in the United States said yesterday they will call for the case against him to be thrown out when he returns to trial this month.

THE only September 11 suspect ever convicted was freed by a German court yesterday pending the outcome of his retrial on charges of aiding the suicide pilots.

The only September 11 suspect ever convicted was freed by a German court today after his conviction for aiding the suicide pilots was thrown out last month.

The retrial of the man charged with helping the September 11 terror bombers may collapse, it emerged in Hamburg today.

A SEPTEMBER 11 suspect whose conviction for helping the Hamburg-based suicide hijackers was overturned has asked to be released from prison pending a retrial.

A GERMAN court yesterday overturned the world's only conviction for the September 11 attacks and ordered a retrial for a Moroccan found guilty last year of aiding the Hamburg cell of suicide hijackers.

A German court today overturned the world’s only conviction for the September 11 attacks and ordered a retrial for a Moroccan found guilty last year of aiding the Hamburg cell of suicide hijackers.

A HAMBURG court yesterday acquitted a Moroccan man of helping the September 11 hijackers after a 5½-month trial that was only the second anywhere of a suspected attacker.

A Hamburg court today acquitted a Moroccan man of helping the September 11 hijackers after rejecting a dramatic last-minute motion for new evidence by a lawyer for relatives of US victims of the attacks.

A Moroccan who allegedly helped the September 11 hijackers but was freed on evidence suggesting he knew nothing of the plot awaited a verdict today in only the second trial anywhere for the attacks on the United States.

A MOROCCAN who was found guilty of helping the September 11 suicide hijackers told a court yesterday his conviction was “unjust” and denied that an al-Qaida cell ever existed in Hamburg.

ONE of the September 11 hijackers transformed from a western-oriented man into a fervent Muslim who often talked about waging a jihad or holy war, his former girlfriend told a German court yesterday.

A MOROCCAN accused of aiding the German al-Qaida cell in planning the September 11 attacks was involved in the plot from the start, prosecutors alleged at the opening of his trial yesterday.

The second alleged September 11 terrorist to face trial anywhere appeared in court today in Hamburg, Germany.

GERMANY launches the second trial of a suspected September 11 plotter on Thursday in a case expected to provide further insight into the Hamburg al-Qaida cell that led the hijacked airliner attacks on US cities.

A TERROR suspect on trial in Germany has admitted that he served as a member of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard squad.

GERMAN federal prosecutors yesterday said they had charged a second Moroccan man suspected of providing support for the Islamic militant group behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.

A MOROCCAN student was yesterday convicted of more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder for helping suicide pilots in the September 11 attacks on the United States, ending the first trial connected to the suicide hijackings.

A Moroccan student was today convicted of being an accessory in the murder of more than 3,000 September 11 victims and helping support the Hamburg-based terror cell.

A verdict was expected today in the first trial of a suspect in the September 11 terror attacks against New York and Washington.

Philip Blenkinsop, Hamburg

FIVE relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks confronted the man on trial for supporting the plot yesterday, recounting their suffering since their loved ones perished.

OSAMA BIN LADEN told followers before the September 11 attacks “we must strike at America” and there would be “thousands of dead”, a witness at the trial of an alleged plot member testified yesterday.

Osama bin Laden told followers before the September 11 attacks that “we must strike at America” and there would be “thousands of dead,” a witness at the trial of an alleged plot member testified today.

A MOROCCAN charged with supporting the September 11 suicide hijackers told a German court yesterday some alleged plotters wanted to fight against Russians in Chechnya.

A Moroccan student accused of aiding the Hamburg terrorist cell involved in the September 11 attacks on the US went to Afghanistan in 2000 and attended a training camp there, his lawyer said yesterday.

A 28-year-old Moroccan student was today going on trial in Germany, charged with aiding the Hamburg terrorist cell involved in the September 11 attacks on the United States, which included lead suicide hijacker Mohammed Atta.

A Moroccan man was arrested in Hamburg today on suspicion that he provided logistical support to the cell of September 11 hijackers led by Mohamed Atta, German federal prosecutors said.

German investigators today searched the premises of an import-export company suspected of being a cover for Islamic fundamentalists.

Adam Tanner discovers that terror network still has members scattered through Europe.

GERMANY has told US officials it will withhold evidence against Zacarias Moussaoui unless it is assured it will not be used to secure a death penalty against him.

Germany has told US officials it will withhold evidence against Zacarias Moussaoui unless it is assured it will not be used to secure a death penalty against him.

A SEPTEMBER 11 hijacker vowed as far back as 1999 that thousands would die when planes crashed into the World Trade Center, a German prosecutor said yesterday.

The Hamburg al-Qaida cell that included three of the September 11 hijackers planned an attack on the World Trade Centre as early as April or May 2000, a German prosecutor said today.

Federal prosecutors today filed charges against Mounir El Motassadeq, the only September 11 suspect in custody in Germany, where several of the key hijackers were based.

Investigators in the German city of Moenchengladbach have ruled out any link to the al-Qaida network of a man they arrested on a tip that he was a member of the terrorist organisation, authorities said today.