Bin Laden called for attack on US, court told

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.

Jordanian-born Shadi Abdellah, 25, told a Hamburg court he briefly served as bin Laden's bodyguard while attending an al-Qaida training camp in Kandahar, Afghanistan, from early 2000 until May 2001.

The accused, Mounir el Motassadeq, was also at the camp and was present for a speech in which the al-Qaida leader preached jihad, or holy war, Abdellah testified.

El Motassadeq has admitted attending an Afghan camp, but denied meeting bin Laden.

Abdellah said he often heard bin Laden talking about attacking the US, though not specifically about the September 11 plot or the three suicide hijackers who lived undetected in Hamburg.

"His words were very strong we must strike at America and destroy it. He said there would be thousands of dead," he told the court.

German authorities have accused Abdellah of belonging to an Islamic extremist group, Al Tawhid, that they raided in April on suspicion that members were plotting attacks on US, British and Israeli targets in Germany.

El Motassadeq, a 28-year-old Moroccan, is charged with more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and with belonging to a terrorist group. German prosecutors allege he helped funnel money to the September 11 suicide hijackers for flying lessons in the US.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani doctor who was recently released after being held for a month and questioned by US security officials said yesterday he saw bin Laden a year ago and the al-Qaida leader was in good health.

"When I saw him last he was in excellent health," said Dr Amer Aziz, who claimed he saw bin Laden last November in Kabul. "I didn't see any evidence of kidney disease. I didn't see any evidence of dialysis."