- BERLIN (Reuters) -- A German
court postponed on Wednesday the verdict on a Moroccan accused of aiding
the Sept. 11 attackers after prosecutors said they had found a new witness,
casting doubt on his expected acquittal.
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- The Hamburg court where Abdelghani Mzoudi is on trial
said that the verdict would not now be issued Thursday as expected after
a request from prosecutors to hear evidence from two police officials about
a new witness.
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- "Federal prosecutors sent to the court today a substantial
transcript dated January 19 regarding the questioning of a witness whose
reliability is guaranteed and who would incriminate the accused Mzoudi,"
the court said in a statement.
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- Mzoudi, 31, had been expected to be cleared of the charge
of several thousand counts of aiding and abetting murder and membership
of a terrorist organization after he was released from custody in a surprise
move last month.
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- His release came after German investigators informed
the court of secret testimony which the trial judge presumed to have come
from key al Qaeda figure Ramzi bin al-Shaibah who is now in U.S. custody.
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- That testimony suggested the Moroccan did not belong
to the core group of plotters based in Hamburg -- an al Qaeda cell said
to have been instrumental in the 2001 attacks on America.
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- The United States has shared details of bin al-Shaibah's
testimony with Germany, but has been unwilling to allow it be released
to a court.
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- Independent lawyers had said it appeared very likely
that Mzoudi, whose trial has continued, would be acquitted.
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- However, prosecutors are now seeking a 30-day break for
judges to assess the credibility of the new witness. The court will hear
new information from two police officers and a federal prosecutor Thursday.
Neither the court nor defense lawyers gave any details about the new witness.
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- Mzoudi's trial is only the second of a suspected Sept.
11 plotter. Last year the same court sentenced another Moroccan, Mounir
El Motassadeq, to 15 years in jail on similar charges.
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- His lawyers were expecting to hear the results of an
appeal, which could lead to a retrial, next week. They say that the new
evidence that led to Mzoudi's release should lead to a review of Motassadeq's
conviction.
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- U.S. Attorney-General John Ashcroft and lawyers representing
the relatives of September 11 victims have described the freeing of Mzoudi
as disappointing.
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- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4176508
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