German police aid hunt for hijack pilots

Police in Germany are questioning a man in Hamburg as part of the now international investigation into the World Trade Centre and Pentagon attacks.

The man is believed to have known two students who are among the suspected hijackers of four planes used in the terrorist attacks.

The two trained as pilots in Florida flight schools.

German police combed an apartment today where the two men are believed to have once lived.

A former employee at a flight school where some of the terrorists apparently trained said two students - Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi - had arrived from Germany in July 2000.

They attended Huffman Aviation for about five months, the former employee, Charlie Voss, said in Florida.

German police say the two men who lived in Germany were in Florida from July 2000 until January 2001.

The apartment in Hamburg has been empty since February this year, and recently renovated, making the search for forensic evidence more difficult, said police spokesman Reinhard Fallak. ‘‘We have not necessarily found a hot lead,’’ he said.

Neighbours told police that up to five men had been living in the apartment, located in a working-class district with many foreign residents.