APFN
Witness in 9/11 trial accuses Iran
Thu Jan 22 21:57:10 2004
64.140.158.97

A surprise witness who caused the postponement of a verdict due on
Thursday in a trial over the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United
States has told German authorities that Iranian intelligence was
involved in the plot. http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/297936.htm

Posted Jan 22, 2004 08:56 AM PST
The bovine excrement meter just melted.

Witness in 9/11 trial accuses Iran
Posted Thu, 22 Jan 2004

A surprise witness who caused the postponement of a verdict due on
Thursday in a trial over the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United
States has told German authorities that Iranian intelligence was
involved in the plot.

Two German federal police officers told the court in Hamburg,
northern Germany on Thursday that the witness was an Iranian man
claiming to be a former spy for Tehran until mid-2001.

The witness has been called by federal prosecutors who say that he
can incriminate Moroccan student Abdelghani Mzoudi, the second man
worldwide to stand trial over the suicide hijackings that killed more
than 3000 people.

Mzoudi is accused of being a key member of the so-called Hamburg cell
that produced three of the hijackers including alleged ringleader
Mohammed Atta.

On Wednesday, the court made a shock announcement that it had agreed
to wait to deliver its verdict to assess the credibility of the new
witness.

According to German media, the suspect told German police that Iran's
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, former president Ali Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani and three other ayatollahs met with Osama bin
Laden's oldest son at an airbase near Tehran May 4, 2001 to finalise
the plans for the attacks.

The officers testified that the witness had told them that Mzoudi had
been in Iran and was "active in the logistics of the September 11,
2001 operation," including the "composition and transmission of
(encrypted) information to intermediaries".

Mzoudi "knew a lot about codes", the German officer said quoting the
witness.

The purported spy also said that bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, blamed
for the attacks in New York and Washington, had planned to have
Mzoudi "eliminated" because he was suspected of cooperating with
German authorities during questioning, the officers said.

The witness said his source for the information was a high-ranking
colleague with Iranian intelligence who communicated with him via e-
mail and over the telephone.

German officers declined to comment on the credibility of the shadowy
witness despite frequent questions by the court. But they confirmed
that the man had asked to be paid a large sum to speak to authorities.

"One cannot rule out what he is saying," said one of the officers who
was not identified, adding that the witness had appeared "convinced"
of his own statements.

Mzoudi (31) is charged with more than 3000 counts of accessory to
murder and membership in a terrorist organization for his alleged
role in the plot.

Prosecutors have demanded the maximum 15 years in prison, the same
sentence handed to a fellow Moroccan student last February after he
was convicted on the same charges.


AFP

----------------------------------

New Witness Called in German 9-11 Trial
Miami Herald, FL - 4 minutes ago
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/7764555.htm

HAMBURG, Germany - A Hamburg court on Thursday called a surprise prosecution witness
to testify next week in the trial of a Moroccan accused of aiding the Sept ..
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/7773920.htm

German 9/11 trial verdict postponed
Expatica, Netherlands - Jan 21, 2004
... ahead of the 9/11 attacks, Pinar said. In addition, he is expected to tell the
court that al Qaeda operatives have threatened to kill the Hamburg trial ...
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52&story_id=3858

Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2004
German Court Hears New Evidence in Case
GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

HAMBURG, Germany - A court heard new evidence Thursday against a Moroccan accused of aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers, raising hopes that prosecutors could salvage their case after securing a last-minute delay of the verdict in the five-month trial.

Prosecutors presented statements from a new witness who claims that Abdelghani Mzoudi was directly involved in logistics for the Hamburg-based terror cell that included the lead Sept. 11 hijacker, Mohamed Atta.

The new statements contradict earlier testimony that Mzoudi had no advance knowledge of the terror attacks - a claim that prompted judges to release the 31-year-old suspect.

The court had planned to announce its verdict on Thursday but prosecutors secured a delay to allow them to evaluate the new evidence. The evaluation is expected to be completed next week.

Presiding Judge Klaus Ruehle read excerpts from statements from the new witness - who claims to be a former Iranian intelligence agent. The judges pressed investigators to say whether they believe the information is credible.

"I can't give an evaluation of the facts at the moment," Investigator Andy Neumann said.

Federal investigators interviewed the new witness earlier this week in Berlin. His name has not been disclosed.

The witness, citing an unspecified intelligence source in Iran, alleges that Mzoudi had knowledge of codes and was responsible for providing information to terrorist middlemen, according to a transcript of his interview that investigators submitted to the court.

The new witness also claims that he tried to warn U.S. authorities ahead of Sept. 11 that "something would happen."

The prosecution case suffered a setback last month when federal investigators presented a statement suggesting Mzoudi knew nothing of the Sept. 11 plot - prompting the judges to rule that there was no longer enough evidence to keep him in jail for the duration of the trial.

The statement came from an anonymous source who said the only people in Hamburg who knew of the plot were the three suicide hijackers based in the northern city and Ramzi Binalshibh, their alleged key liaison with al-Qaida.

The judges identified the source as Binalshibh, who is in U.S. custody. While doubting its truthfulness, the judges said they had to take the statement at face value because the U.S. Department of Justice refused the court access to Binalshibh or his interrogation records.

Last February, the court sentenced Mzoudi's friend, Mounir el Motassadeq, to the maximum 15-year prison term on identical charges - more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership of a terrorist organization.
==========================

UPDATES:
Searched news for 9/11 trial. Results 1 - 10 of about 473

• Sept. 11 widow: Government hides truth — Emily Aronson, Fri Jan 23 02:23
• Paper: 9/11 Trial Prosecutor Investigated — Detroit Free Press, Thu Jan 22 22:13
• 9-11 is no reason to suspend the Constitution : — ICH, Fri Jan 23 00:00
• The State of the Union - (Relative To Terrorism) — homelandsecuityus.com, Fri Jan 23 02:14