New twist in German September 11 case
A German court has postponed its verdict in the trial of a Moroccan student suspected of involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States to hear a new witness, in a further dramatic twist to the case.
The court in the northern city of Hamburg said on Wednesday it would allow federal prosecutors to present a witness to testify against Abdelghani Mzoudi, who is charged with more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder for the attacks on New York and Washington.
No new date was given for a verdict.
Defence attorney Guel Pinar said that the witness was an unidentified Iranian intelligence agent claiming to have informed US authorities before September 2001 of an impending attack.
She said the agent had also told German investigators that Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, blamed for the coordinated assault with hijacked planes, had threatened Mzoudi's life because it believed he had cooperated with German authorities when questioned.
The court said that the prosecution had applied on Monday to delay the proceedings for 30 days so it could assess the credibility of the witness.
Although the five-judge panel granted the request for a postponement, it had not yet decided on the length of the interruption.
The judges will now on Thursday hear two police officers and a federal prosecutor who have questioned the new witness.
Mzoudi, 31, has been on trial since August and has denied the charges against him.
The prosecution has demanded 15 years in prison for the defendant, who they say provided logistical help to the so-called Hamburg cell that produced three of the suicide hijackers including alleged ringleader Mohammed Atta.
Mzoudi is accused of helping cover the tracks of the cell's members and is believed to have undergone paramilitary training at an Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.
In the case's first surprise development, Mzoudi was released by the court in December pending a verdict when a report by Germany's federal crime office gave fresh evidence from a witness in US custody claiming to exonerate him.
Presiding judge Klaus Ruehle had identified an alleged top Al Qaeda operative, Ramzi Binalshibh, as the likely source of new testimony.
But US authorities have nevertheless repeatedly rebuffed German attempts to have Binalshibh appear before the Hamburg court or allow his full testimony to be examined.
The case has threatened to drive a new wedge between Germany and the United States, whose ties were already strained over Berlin's opposition to the Iraq war and reluctance to play a major role in stabilising the country.
The ruling to free Mzoudi was already sharply criticised by US Attorney-General John Ashcroft who has said he was "disappointed" by the twist in the trial and noted that US authorities handled such cases of national security differently.
Hamburg state justice minister Roger Kusch angrily dismissed Mr Ashcroft's comments last week as "uncalled for and presumptuous" and said the judges did not deserve to be criticized because their ruling was "politically undesirable" and "did not fit somebody's ideas."
-- AFP
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