Germany Arrests Terrorist Helper

Early Thursday morning, police in the German city of Hamburg arrested a 29-year old Moroccan man believed to have connections to the al Qaeda cell of hijackers responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Key Nehm, Germany’s federal prosecutor, said Abdelghani Mzoudi, who shared an apartment with several of the members of the terrorist cell centered on Mohammed Atta, most likely had extensive contacts to the al Qaeda network and provided logistical help for carrying out the attacks.

"We have accused him of having been active in the group. We have issued the arrest warrant on the firm suspicion of aiding a terrorist organization," Nehm told reporters after Mzoudi was detained.

The prosecutor’s office, however, admitted that at the moment it had no hard evidence actually proving that Mzoudi was an active participant in the Hamburg terrorist cell, in which case he would be tried as an accessory to murder. "But we think that we will be able to get him closer to the group," Nehm added in reference to statements made by a witness who knew Mzoudi had received al Qaeda terrorist training in Afghanistan.

What is certain, the prosecutor said, is that Mzoudi had close contact to Atta, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and two other hijackers who died in the attacks, Marwan Al Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah, as well as to key al Qaeda suspect Ramzi Binalshibh, who was recently arrested in Pakistan. Therefore, it is also very likely that Mzoudi knew about the planned targets in the U.S.

"The accused knew the organization’s goals of launching terrorist attacks and supported it logistically," Nehm told the press.

The Hamburg connection

Over the course of the last few years Mzoudi shared a three-room apartment with Atta and maintained close contact to Al Shehhi, Binalshibh and Said Bahaji, another member of the terrorist cell still at large.

In addition, German authorities believe Mzoudi gave money to Zakariya Essabar for flying lessons in the United States and arranged accommodation for Al Shehhi prior to leaving for the U.S. in May 2000. Essabar is a suspected al Qaeda terrorist currently being sought, and Al Shehhi is thought to have piloted the second plane into the World Trade Center.

Mzoudi and the other members of the Hamburg al Qaeda cell were enrolled as students at the city’s technical college. For years the young men going in and out of Atta’s apartment went unnoticed by German authorities. It wasn’t until events quickly began unfolding after last year’s attacks that authorities began to take a closer look at the activities of Marienstraße 54, and an entire terrorist network came to light.

Profile of the accused

Rolf Tophoven, a German expert on terrorism, said on DW-RADIO that the profile of Mzoudi "exactly matches the profile of the whole group around Mohammed Atta. They all had one thing in common: They received extensive training at camps in Afghanistan. Obviously the accused had knowledge of the targets in the U.S. and probably also other selected targets in Western Europe."

Tophoven stressed that Mzoudi and Mounir El Motassadeq, another suspected member of the Hamburg al Qaeda cell who goes on trial later this month, are only the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to uncovering the terrorist network in Germany, the authorities have only begin putting the pieces together, he said.

Germany’s federal prosecutor admitted that investigations into the Hamburg group had been difficult but also successful. "What we have achieved so far is excellent in international comparison. No other country has come this far," Nehm told reporters.

On Friday Mzoudi will be brought before an investigating judge of the federal supreme court in Karlsruhe.