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By John Crewdson, Tribune senior correspondent. Reporting and research assistance was provided by Drew Crosby in Madrid MADRID -- The most sweeping criminal indictment to arise thus far from the Sept. 11 attacks reflects a quiet but dramatic change in understanding by investigators here and across Europe of the terrorist organization known as Al Qaeda, and the international Islamic radical-terrorist network of which, they now agree, it is merely a part. As laid out in the indictment, the defendants' alleged activities--from arranging travel and providing introductions to procuring false documents and, especially, moving money--provide the first detailed look at one...

Defendant was 'terror cell member'17 September 2003 HAMBURG - A Moroccan man accused of membership in the Hamburg terrorist cell that staged the 11 September attacks actively participated in planning the suicide hijackings, a witness testified at his trial in Germany Wednesday. The 22-year-old witness, a university student who claimed to be a close acquaintance of defendant Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, said he was convinced Mzoudi was an active member of a Hamburg cell of al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the attacks which claimed some 3,000 lives. "I always had the feeling that he (Mzoudi) definitely belonged to the group," the witness testified....

A RING of neo-Nazi extremists arrested in Germany this week is suspected of plotting an attack on Munich’s new synagogue on the anniversary of Hitler’s "Kristallnacht", police sources say. The right-wing extremists, arrested in raids that also turned up machine-guns, grenades and nearly 30lb of explosives, were planning an assault on the 65th anniversary of the night when Jewish homes and business were attacked in the infamous Nazi pogrom, police say. Their targets were high officials, including the German president, Johannes Rau, due to lay the foundation stones for the synagogue and school for Munich’s 8,000-strong Jewish community. Nine people...

<p>He frequented a Berlin mosque favored by Islamic extremists and attended on occasion by members of the now-notorious Hamburg cell that helped mount the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, German investigators said. Mr. Fakihi, now 32 years old, channeled more than $1 million to the mosque, where Muslim clerics have preached intolerance of non-Muslims, the investigators said.</p>

Sept. 9 — HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - A Moroccan accused of helping the suicide hijackers in the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities was a fanatical Muslim who hated Jews, his trial heard on Tuesday. Abdelghani Mzoudi, a 30-year-old electrical engineering student, is charged with being an accessory to 3,066 counts of murder and with membership of a terrorist organization -- the Hamburg-based al Qaeda cell that led the 2001 attacks. Bernd Frost, 37, told the court that he had often discussed politics with Mzoudi when they lived in the same student accommodation building in Hamburg in the mid-1990s....

HAMBURG, Germany - A Moroccan on trial for allegedly supporting a cell of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers was easy to get along with until he fell under the influence of a fellow countryman, who later was convicted on terrorism charges, their former landlord testified Thursday. Reinhard Martens, who rented defendant Abdelghani Mzoudi a room in his house in late 1996, remembered him as a "very good" tenant until another Moroccan, Mounir el Motassadeq, moved in at the start of 1997. "Mzoudi was quieter than before, he seemed like he could not make his own decisions," Martens testified. "Mounir was...

HAMBURG, Germany - A court trying a Sept. 11 terror suspect said Thursday it would seek testimony from a captured al-Qaida leader who allegedly masterminded the attacks on the United States. Presiding Judge Klaus Ruehle said the Hamburg state court had prepared a request for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to appear as a witness in the trial of Abdelghani Mzoudi, 30, who is accused of supporting the Hamburg al-Qaida cell that included three Sept. 11 pilots. He did not elaborate. Given Mohammed's alleged role, he should be able to describe where the attacks were planned, defense attorney Guel Pinar said. Mohammed,...

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -- A witness at the trial of a Sept. 11 terror suspect was pressed Thursday by a judge about her memory that one of the suicide hijackers in 1999 predicted an attack on the United States that would kill thousands. The testimony by librarian Angela Duile could be important in the case against Abdelghani Mzoudi, 30, who is accused of supporting the Hamburg al-Qaida cell. He faces the same charges as his friend and fellow Moroccan, Mounir el Motassadeq, who was convicted in February and sentenced to the maximum 15 years on 3,066 counts of accessory...

Hamburg (dpa) - The al-Qaeda terrorist network has given military training to 70,000 men over the years, but now has only limited operational capabilities of its own, according to German police intelligence provided at a trial in Hamburg on Friday. A specialist from the Federal Crime Office BKA was testifying at the trial of alleged September 11, 2001 terror-pilot conspirator Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, described by prosecutors as one of eight Arab men who devised the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Three of the named men died in the attacks and two are still at large. Germany says the...

The Associated Press HAMBURG, Germany Aug. 13 — The second alleged Sept. 11 terrorist to face trial in Germany has been painted as a fanatical Muslim. So his choices for lawyers a woman and a Jew have raised eyebrows. Abdelghani Mzoudi goes on trial Thursday in the same Hamburg courtroom where his friend and fellow Moroccan Mounir el Motassadeq was convicted six months ago. Michael Rosenthal, a criminal defense lawyer based in the southern city of Karlsruhe, openly discussed his Jewishness with Mzoudi at their first meeting having read the indictment that says Mzoudi was part of the group with...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany launches the second trial of a suspected Sept. 11 plotter Thursday in a case expected to provide further insight into the Hamburg al Qaeda cell that led the hijacked airliner attacks on U.S. cities. Moroccan Abdelghani Mzoudi, 30, who shared an apartment with some of the suicide hijackers in the northern port city of Hamburg, is charged with 3,066 counts of aiding and abetting murder and membership of a terrorist organization. If found guilty, Mzoudi, faces the same 15-year jail term to which fellow Moroccan Mounir El Motassadeq was sentenced in February for his part in...

Berlin, Aug 7, IRNA -- Twelve CIA-agents are currently said to be on an "unclear mission" in Germany according to local intelligence circles, the "Bild" newspaper said Thursday in an unconfirmed report. The agents are said to belong to an "elite unit" such as the "Delta Force" which has been "lent" to the CIA for the current mission in Germany. "German security experts assume that the special agents might have received the order to track down the homes of possible islamic terrorists and their supporters in Germany," the paper reported. The 12-man team is also said to be in posession...

Hamburg: Angry demonstrators attacked the Iranian consulate in Hamburg on Tuesday [17 June]. According to a police spokesman, several protesters threw stones at the windows of the diplomatic mission. In addition, demonstrators climbed over the fence in front of the consulate and several of them reportedly entered the building. The police could not give a figure [for the number of protesters] for the time being. It was also unclear whether the consulate was possibly occupied by the protesters. The police arrived with numerous units.

France catches al-Qaeda suspects TERROR LINKS: The men are suspected to have been involved in helping carry out the Sept. 11 attacks on the US as well as a recent synagogue bombing in Tunisia AP Saturday, Jun 07, 2003,Page 6 French anti-terrorism authorities have arrested two men -- a Moroccan and a German believed to be a top al-Qaeda recruiter -- as part of investigations of the Sept. 11 attacks and a deadly bombing at a Tunisian synagogue, judicial officials said on Thursday. The officials said they believe the suspects -- Moroccan national Karim Mehdi and Christian Ganczarski of Germany...

PARIS - France has arrested a German man suspected of links to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and a suicide attack at a Tunisian synagogue last year, police said on Friday. Christian Ganczarski, 36, was arrested on Monday, one day after French police detained a Moroccan man also wanted in connection with September 11 attacks, blamed on the Al-Qaida network. A French police spokesman said Ganczarski was suspected of links to the synagogue bombing in Djerba in April 2002 and the September 11 attacks, but it was not clear what role he may have played in...

PARIS (AP) - French authorities investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States have arrested two men - a Moroccan and a German believed to be a top al-Qaida recruiter - in the last two days at the Paris airport, judicial officials said Thursday. The officials said they believe there's a link between the two suspects. On Sunday, Karim Mehdi, a 34-year-old Moroccan, was taken into custody at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, the officials said on condition of anonymity. He had arrived from Germany and planned to leave to the French island of La Reunion...

Moroccan Arrested in France Over Sept 11 Attacks 1 hour, 47 minutes ago Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo! PARIS (Reuters) - A Moroccan man wanted in connection with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States has been arrested in France, a judicial source said on Thursday. Karim Mehdi, 34, was arrested Sunday. Thursday he was put under official investigation -- one step short of pressing charges in France -- for "participation in an association of criminals linked to terrorist activities." The source said Mehdi was suspected of being connected to an al Qaeda cell in Hamburg,...

SEPT 11 SUSPECT HELD A man suspected of involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks on America has been arrested in France. Moroccan Karim Mehdi  is believed to have links to a German-based al Qaeda terrorist cell which supplied one of the September 11 hijackers, a French official said on condition of anonymity. The 34-year-old will appear before a judge on Thursday and will then be placed under investigation for connection with the attacks - one step short of being charged. The French intelligence service took Mehdi into custody on Sunday at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, the official said. He was in transit on a...

BERLIN: German federal prosecutors said on Friday they had charged a second Moroccan man suspected of providing support for the Islamic militant group behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Federal prosecutors said in a statement they had charged Abdelghani Mzoudi, a 30-year-old Moroccan, with being an accessory to the murder of 3,066 people and of membership in the al-Qaeda cell based in Hamburg that helped plan the attacks. Mzoudi was detained in October 2002 in Hamburg on suspicion he was among a group of 10 people in the city who supported the September 11 attackers. Prosecutors...

A wedding video shot in a Hamburg mosque has been broadcast for the first time and shows grainy scenes of Sept. 11 al-Qaida suicide pilots celebrating with other alleged plotters, possibly including suspects still not formally identified. The video of the October 1999 wedding of Said Bahaji being celebrated in a large room at the al Quds mosque suspected as a recruiting center for al-Qaida operatives has been in the hands of investigators since shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. In the immediate aftermath of the terror attacks, the Bahaji wedding video provided investigators critical...