Germany — A Moroccan man was convicted Friday and sentenced to seven years in prison for belonging to a terrorist cell that included three of the Sept. 11 hijackers, long-awaited decisions welcomed by the German government and a victim's relative.
Yet the Hamburg state court faulted U.S. authorities' failure to deliver more evidence as it acquitted Mounir el Motassadeq of direct involvement in the attacks, finding him innocent of more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder.
El Motassadeq, a slight, bearded 31-year-old, watched calmly as presiding Judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt announced the verdict, which came after a series of setbacks and a yearlong retrial.
In 2003, the Moroccan became the first person anywhere to be convicted in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings, but his conviction was overturned last year. He had been free since shortly after a federal appeals court ordered the retrial, ruling he was unfairly denied evidence from suspects in U.S. custody.
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