9/11 suspect still seen guilty

2004-01-08 13:13

Hamburg - Prosecutors in the trial of a Moroccan accused of helping the September 11 suicide hijackers said on Thursday they still believe he is guilty despite a statement presented in court last month that would exclude him from the plot if true.

Prosecutors cast doubt on the value of the statement as they began closing arguments in the trial of Abdelghani Mzoudi, charged with 3 066 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organisation.

"I and my colleagues are still convinced that the defendant is guilty," chief prosecutor Walter Hemberger told the Hamburg state court. He was expected to make a sentencing request later on Thursday.

Mzoudi faces a maximum 15 years in prison if convicted.

Last month, German federal investigators presented a statement from an unidentified informant that led the court to free Mzoudi for the rest of the trial.

The statement, attributed by the court to Ramzi Binalshibh, said that the only the people in Hamburg who knew of the plot to attack the United States were Binalshibh and suicide hijackers Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah.

Binalshibh has been in US custody since his capture in Pakistan on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Mzoudi - only the second September 11 suspect to go on trial anywhere in the world - is accused of providing logistical support to the Hamburg cell. A verdict is expected this month.

- AP