Jailed 9/11 suspect freed pending retrial David Rising, Hamburg

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.

Mounir El Motassadeq had been serving a maximum 15-year prison term since he was convicted in February 2003 of giving logistical help to the Hamburg al-Qaida cell that included three of the September 11 suicide pilots.

The 30-year-old Moroccan was ordered freed on condition he stay in Hamburg and not be issued a new passport, said Sabine Westphalen, spokeswoman for the Hamburg state court.