- HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters)
-- On the eve of Germany's third big trial related to the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks on the United States, court officials said Monday they had no word
from Washington on whether captured al Qaeda leaders and the ex-head of
the CIA will be allowed to testify.
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- Moroccan Mounir El Motassadeq faces trial for the second
time Tuesday, accused of conspiring with Mohamed Atta and other members
of an al Qaeda cell in Hamburg to carry out the suicide hijacks in 2001
in which nearly 3,000 people died.
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- But a court spokeswoman in Hamburg said the United States
had still not responded to a request filed in May to allow testimony from
six key witnesses.
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- These include captured al Qaeda figures, suspected Sept.
11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui and George Tenet, who recently resigned as
head of the CIA.
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- "There has been no answer, we must wait and see
what reaction comes from the United States," the spokeswoman said.
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- In Washington, the Justice Department declined to comment.
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- The issue has led to tension between Germany and the
United States, which clearly wants a conviction in the case but is unwilling
to allow secret testimony from the interrogation of al Qaeda captives to
be aired in open court.
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- The case largely revolves around Ramzi bin al-Shaibah,
a captured al Qaeda leader who knew Motassadeq and Atta in Hamburg and
who boasted to an Al Jazeera reporter in 2002 of his role in masterminding
the Sept. 11 attacks.
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- The court wants to question bin al-Shaibah and the other
key witnesses, either in person or by video link. Failing that, it wants
Washington to make available transcripts of the al Qaeda prisoners' interrogations.
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- But the defense has already said it will call for any
such written evidence to be thrown out, arguing that any admissions it
contained would probably have been obtained under torture.
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- Defense lawyer Josef Graessle-Muenscher said he expected
a difficult trial. "It will be a hard struggle. Case dismissed, acquittal
or conviction -- all are possible."
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- FIRST TRIAL VERDICT OVERTURNED
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- In a case that captured worldwide attention, Motassadeq
last year became the first person anywhere to be convicted in connection
with the 2001 attacks and was sentenced to 15 years' jail.
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- But he won an appeal in March this year and was freed
the following month pending a new trial -- sparking anger in Washington,
which called him "dangerous."
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- Sources close to the case believe prosecutors have a
better chance of convicting Motassadeq on a secondary charge -- membership
of a terrorist organization -- than of being an accessory to the killings.
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- "It was clear he was close to the group and supporting
them, but if you want to charge someone as an accessory, you have to prove
he really knew something," a Hamburg security source told Reuters.
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- Prosecutors have faced mounting criticism for failing
to secure a conviction against Motassadeq or fellow-Moroccan Abdelghani
Mzoudi, who was acquitted of similar charges in February and now faces
a prosecution appeal.
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- According to the influential news weekly Der Spiegel,
the government has become increasingly concerned about the handling of
the case. Interior Minister Otto Schily has pushed vigorously for tougher
controls on militant suspects.
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- Whatever the final results of the two cases, Hamburg
authorities consider both Motassadeq and Mzoudi pose a particular threat
to Germany and have served deportation orders that would come into effect
at the end of the criminal cases, subject to appeal.
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