September 11 trial hears al-Qaida suspects' statements

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.

In the eight-page US Justice Department summary of interrogations released yesterday, accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed supports the contention that while the core cell members had violently anti-US discussions with other Muslims in Hamburg, they kept the plot to attack the United States secret.