Hamburg terror suspect appears in court

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

Moroccan Abdelghani Mzoudi, 31, is charged with 3,066 counts of accessory to murder and being a member of a terrorist organisation.

His friend and countryman Mounir el Motassadeq was sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison by the same court six months ago.

El Motassadeq was the first person anywhere to face trial over the suicide hijack attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon.

In an interview the month after the attacks, Mzoudi admitted being friends with the three 9/11 suicide pilots. But he denied being part of the plot.

In a bid to counter allegations he is a Muslim fanatic, he has hired a woman and a Jew as his defence team.

Criminal defence lawyer Michael Rosenthal said he openly discussed his Jewishness with Mzoudi after reading the indictment that says he was part of the group with a “radically anti-American and anti-Jewish position”.

“He smiled and said ‘I think your problem (with it) is larger than mine,’ and we both smiled and got on with it,” said Rosenthal, 50. “I liked his reaction and I liked his smile. It obviously didn’t matter.”

Lawyer Guel Pinar, whom Mzoudi hired because she was challenging Hamburg’s decision to use profiling to round up terror suspects, said he exhibits none of the radical sexism attributed to members of the Hamburg cell.

“It is just a none-issue,” said Pinar, 35.

El Motassadeq was jailed for 15 years, but observers said prosecutors are going to have a harder time proving their case against Mzoudi.

The case against him is believed to be less firm, largely because the original charges of aiding a terrorist organisation were only raised to accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organisation after el Motassadeq’s conviction.

In addition, growing knowledge about al-Qaida gives the defence team of two experienced criminal lawyers – compared to el Motassadeq’s choice of attorneys with civil defence backgrounds – more material to mount challenges.

Rosenthal and Pinar have said they will press hard for testimony from Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni in US custody who is believed to have been the Hamburg cell’s key contact with al-Qaida.

US authorities refused repeated requests for his testimony during el Motassadeq’s trial.

Mzoudi is accused of being privy to the hijackers’ plans and of taking care of financial matters for alleged cell member Zakariya Essabar, who is wanted by Germany on an international warrant.

He also is accused of helping suspected lead hijacker Mohamed Atta, suicide pilot Marwan al-Shehhi and Binalshibh elude the authorities by finding a room in student housing for the latter two and letting al-Shehhi and Atta use his Hamburg mailing address while they took flying lessons in the United States.