Germany expels 9/11 suspect despite acquittal

Germany expels 9/11 suspect despite acquittal

Germany expels 9/11 suspect despite acquittal
Thu Jun 9, 2005 6:50 AM ET


By Diana Niedernhoefer

KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - A German federal court on Thursday confirmed a 'not guilty' verdict on a Moroccan man accused of complicity in the Sept. 11 attacks, but authorities said they would expel him anyway.

In the latest of a series of setbacks for prosecutors in high-profile terrorism trials in Germany, the federal court ruled that the acquittal of Abdelghani Mzoudi by a Hamburg court last year was sound.

It turned down an appeal by the prosecution, which had argued the verdict was flawed and sought a new trial.

Despite the decision, a Hamburg interior ministry spokesman said the city would press ahead with the expulsion of Mzoudi on the grounds of "support for a terrorist group." He was given two weeks to leave the country or be deported to Morocco.

"He can go where he wants, we don't care. He must just leave Germany because he represents a danger for the German people and for German security," the spokesman said.

Asked how Mzoudi could be expelled despite being found innocent, the spokesman said: "These are two different things. A criminal offence has to be proven before a court, but under the law on foreigners, suspicion is enough" as grounds for deportation.

Germany, where three of the Sept. 11 suicide hijack pilots were based, introduced a new law on Jan. 1 making it easier to expel suspected foreign militants.

Mzoudi's lawyer said he would not exercise his right to appeal and would go home to Morocco.


ATTA CIRCLE

Mzoudi was a friend of lead hijacker Mohamed Atta and other members of the Hamburg cell that led the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, in which nearly 3,000 people died. He has always denied any knowledge of the plot.

He was acquitted in February 2004 of complicity in the attacks and of belonging to a terrorist group.

The presiding judge described him at the time as a "fringe figure" and said he was being freed because there was insufficient proof against him, not because the court was convinced of his innocence.

The case led to tensions between Germany and the United States because of Washington's refusal, on security grounds, to allow captured al Qaeda leaders to testify. The chief federal prosecutor described U.S. behavior as "incomprehensible."

A senior U.S. official told reporters in Berlin just before Thursday's decision that a Mzoudi acquittal would not damage security ties with Germany.

"It is not going to poison our relations," said Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.

"These are complicated legal issues. I think we will continue to work with Germany. Our intelligence sharing continues to improve. Our legal cooperation is improving."

Mzoudi was accused of training at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan -- something he neither admitted nor denied -- and of handling money and paying bills on behalf of the Hamburg plotters. His lawyers argued he was just helping fellow Muslims living abroad.

Captured al Qaeda figures have told U.S. interrogators that neither Mzoudi nor his friend Mounir El Motassadeq, currently on trial in Hamburg for the second time in connection with Sept. 11, had any knowledge of the plot.

But one of the prisoners said the two men were among a group of Arab students who "studied jihad" and "engaged in vitriolic anti-U.S. discussions" at the home of Atta, the man who crashed the first plane into New York's World Trade Center.