Saudi Official Met Sept. 11 Accomplice - Report Says Motassadeq Had Meeting With Diplomat

BERLIN -- A Saudi diplomat met a member of the Hamburg, Germany, terrorist cell shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., according to a confidential police report.

The diplomat, Muhammed Fakihi, is said to have met Mounir el-Motassadeq when the 29-year-old Moroccan was contemplating fleeing Germany. A few days after the November meeting, Mr. Motassadeq was arrested. This year, he was convicted of accessory to murder in 3,066 cases and of membership in a terrorist organization. He is the only person world-wide to have been convicted for participating in the attacks.

The alleged meeting is detailed in a two-page report by Berlin police that has been reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. It is the strongest indication yet of the Saudi embassy's close dealings with radical Muslims in Germany -- a fact Riyadh has strongly denied. Convicted terrorists such as Mr. Motassadeq are known to have been influenced by Saudi-sponsored Islamic education programs, which taught an intolerant strain of the religion, but this is the first known contact between Saudi officials and the extremist milieu responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.

The alleged meeting occurred two years ago at breakfast before sunrise during Ramadan -- a time of fasting when observant Muslims don't eat during daylight -- according to the intelligence report. The report says five men took part in the meeting: Messrs. Motassadeq and Fakihi; two unidentified men; and Salem al-Raffei, the imam of the Al-Nur mosque in Berlin.

Mr. Fakihi, a 32-year-old former head of the Islamic Affairs Department at the Saudi Embassy in Berlin, had frequented the Al-Nur mosque for some time. He arranged Saudi funding for it to be expanded and, according to a letter he had sent to officials in Riyadh, to become a key missionary mosque for central and eastern Europe.>

During the meeting, according to the police report, Mr. Motassadeq said he was feeling pressure from German federal police in the Sept. 11 investigation and asked Mr. Raffei for help in getting a passport and visa. Mr. Raffei, who like Mr. Motassadeq was under police observation, said Mr. Fakihi could function as a go-between for the two men. The imam asked Mr. Fakihi to give Mr. Motassadeq his business card, according to the report. One of Mr. Fakihi's business cards was later found in a search of Mr. Motassadeq's possessions, according to a list of evidence seized during the raid.

Mr. Fakihi left the meeting early because he realized the man he was dealing with might be linked to the Hamburg cell, according to the police report. The report doesn't specify the exact date, but German investigators believe the meeting took place around Nov. 22, 2001.

The meeting is in contrast to an official answer by the Saudi embassy in Berlin to the German foreign service on Nov. 18, 2002, which reads: "Inquiries have shown there was never any contact between Mr. el-Motassadeq and members of the Saudi embassy staff either within or outside the Royal Saudi embassy."

A spokesman for the Saudi embassy said Monday he knew nothing about the new report. German police say Mr. Fakihi might not have told his superiors of the meeting. Mr. Fakihi didn't report to police in his host country, Germany, the fact that a suspected terrorist was contemplating escape.

Mr. Raffei didn't return calls seeking comment. His lawyer said he was unaware of new allegations.

Mr. Fakihi left Germany this past March after news of his links to the mosque and discovery of his business card became public. German officials say they insisted he be recalled. Saudi officials say that he left due to unjustified allegations in the news media and that he did nothing wrong.

German intelligence officials say the imam may have contacted Mr. Fakihi because as a diplomat Mr. Fakihi enjoyed diplomatic immunity and was unlikely to face police monitoring. He also wasn't spying on Germany, so wouldn't raise alarms with the intelligence unit that monitors illegal embassy activity.

"Mr. Fakihi fell into a hole between two operational units," a senior intelligence official said in a recent interview.

The intelligence report on the meeting was submitted to a German court this weekend because of a dispute between Washington and Berlin. In question is testimony by a leader of the terrorist group al Qaeda believed by German lawyers and legal officials to be Ramzi Binalshibh, a self-confessed coordinator of the Sept. 11 attacks.

German courts have asked that Mr. Binalshibh be brought to Germany to testify, but Washington has rejected this and instead is detaining him at a location that hasn't been revealed.

Washington did, however, give some of Mr. Binalshibh's testimony to Germany. But in it, Mr. Binalshibh said Mr. Motassadeq and Abdelghani Mzoudi, another Moroccan man on trial for aiding the hijackers, knew nothing of the attacks. Unable to cross-examine Mr. Binalshibh, a German court in Hamburg said it had no choice but to take the U.S. testimony at face value. It released Mr. Mzoudi from jail last week, although his trial continues.

A similar effort by Mr. Motassadeq's lawyers failed Monday, in part because of the new intelligence report, which -- besides offering details of Mr. Fakihi's involvement -- indicates Mr. Motassadeq had contemplated fleeing the country after the attacks.

Haven't thought through the implications of actually doing it, but occupying the oil fields would be child's play. Much of Saudi production is offshore just south of the Kuwaiti border.

It is easy to see why Saddam's invasion of Kuwait was such a threat to the Saudis, most of their production is within an hour's drive south from the border. Saudi Arabia is a huge landmass, but the part that counts is all right there. There is no Saudi Army worthy of the name; the US Army is the Saudi Army.

The refineries and shipping terminals are all right there on the east coast, as well. The thing about a desert kingdom is that the population is sprinkled like islands on a sandy sea. As Saddam found out, it is very easy to control the few highways that connect the population centers. Air superiority equals control of the entire territory. Saudi Arabia would be much easier to control than Iraq.

The refineries and oil fields are operated and maintained by foreign workers, primarily philipinos, with western supervision, mostly American and Brit. So taking control would not be difficult at all. In fact, almost all technical work, and all labor of any kind, is done by foreigners. Technical work by philipinos as I say, and the heavy lifting by South Asians; Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, and so forth. The Saudis themselves are essentially an irrelevance in their own country.

The people would not be thrilled at a US occupation, but they would not fight for the Sauds, either. The mullah's would be out of work, causing trouble, though.

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