http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/3461937?source=Evening%20Standard
The only man to face a court over the 11 September atrocities was jailed for life by judges in Germany today. Moroccan Mounir el Motassadeq, known as "the book-keeper", was sentenced for his part in the murders of more than 3,000 people. In a 14-week trial he was described as the accountant of the terror cell led by Mohammed Atta, the 33-year-old Egyptian believed to have been at the controls of one of the planes which smashed into the World Trade Center. He handled the finances of the fanatical Muslim terrorists as they studied in Hamburg and then, later, when they travelled to America to learn to fly the jets which they were to hijack and turn into flying bombs. Motassadeq, 28, was charged with being an accessory to more than 3,000 murders - the victims of the Twin Towers attack in New York, the assault on the Pentagon and the flight which crashed in Pennsylvania as passengers fought hijackers en route to the White House. He was also accused of being a member of al Qaeda and supporting the illegal terror cell. He received the maximum sentence possible in a German court of 15 years, which is the equivalent of a life sentence. Motassadeq had painted himself as a man being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He admitted travelling to one of Osama bin Laden's terror academies in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and learning how to shoot a Kalashnikov rifle - but he said he had no part in the 11 September plot. He admitted looking after some of the financial affairs of the group but said he did so merely as a friend, despite evidence which proved he had acted as their financial adviser, even receiving power of attorney over the bank account of suicide hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi. Questioned by the senior judge, Albrecht Mentz, about Atta's intentions Motassadeq claimed: "Suicide attacks were never discussed. In my opinion, that is not a solution ... Suicide bombers are not martyrs. Even in war, there are rules." He added: "Perhaps Atta was of a different opinion ... But Atta never spoke about any attacks." The five judges acknowledged that the loose-knit nature of al Qaeda meant there was little more than circumstantial evidence to link him to the plot but emphasised this was enough for a guilty verdict. According to some witnesses, Motassadeq was as radical as the rest of the group, often talking of jihad - holy war - and his hatred of Israel and the United States. The most dramatic testimony came from FBI Special Agent Matthew Walsh, who brought to life the terror aboard American Flight 11, the first to strike the Twin Towers, with details of a call made by a flight attendant to airline authorities. "The flight attendant stated that it was very hard to breathe so we assumed that some sort of mace or other gas was used," he said. "She said 'the passenger in 10B has stabbed a passenger in the seat in front of him', and she thought the passenger was already dead." Walsh's evidence formed a key part of the state's case by injecting gruesome terror into otherwise often dry proceedings which concentrated on documents such as Atta's gas bill and bank account. Relatives of victims gave evidence including American Steven Push, whose wife Lisa died in the attacks. xponent Justice Begins Its Long Journey Maru rob ________________________________ You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here. And whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
