Mounir El Motassadeq

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Mounir El Motassadeq stood trial in 2003 for participation in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Mounir el Motassadeq (Arabic: منير المتصدق, his name is also transliterated in various other ways) (born April 3, 1974) is a Moroccan member of al-Qaida who assisted some of the organizers of the September 11, 2001 attacks. He is one of the few people in the world convicted of involvment in the attack.

Motassadeq first came to Germany in 1993 and moved to Hamburg in 1995, where he studied electrical engineering in college. Little is known of his activities at this time, but he did move into the Hamburg cell apartment owned by Mohammed Atta and lived in by many other people who would later go on to lead the September 11, 2001 attacks. The 9/11 Commission Report states that "[a] witness has recalled Motassadeq saying that he would kill his entire family if his religious beliefs demanded it.

On May 22, 2000, Motassadeq flew to Istanbul, and from there to an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. He soon returned. When the four 9/11 leader went from Germany to Afghanistan to train, Motassadeq remained in Germany and helped keep their affairs in order while they were gone. He assisted in financial and family matters, and helped keep their travels quiet. German police were able to wiretap Motassadeq, but apparently did not discover any incriminating information.

In February 2003 he was convicted in Germany of over 3,000 counts of accessory to murder. He was the first person to have been convicted in direct relation to the September 11 attacks, but the sentence of 15 years ran into trouble on appeal. Though the German Justice Ministry pressed the United States to allow Ramzi Binalshibh to testify, the U.S. refused, and the verdict and sentence were set aside. (The same problems led to the acquittal of Abdelghani Mzoudi, another accomplice.)

Motassadeq was re-tried in long trial and convicted on August 19, 2005 of "membership in a terrorist organization". He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. [1], [2], [3], [4]

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