Germany jails suspect in Sept. 11 attacks

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany -- More than 11 weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, German police made their first arrest Wednesday of a suspect connected to the Hamburg terrorist cell that is believed to have plotted and executed three of the four hijackings.

Police in Hamburg detained the suspect, a 27-year-old Moroccan, on "suspicion of supporting a terrorist association," the office of federal prosecutor Kay Nehm said.

Mounir El Motassadeq quickly fell under suspicion when the German authorities discovered that he had power of attorney over a bank account in the name of Marwan Al-Shehhi, another former Hamburg student, who was aboard the second plane that struck the World Trade Center.

Motassadeq also signed chief terrorist suspect Mohamed Atta's 1996 will, which has given investigators some insights into Atta's mind. In the will, Atta expressed his hope to die as an Islamic martyr and set out elaborate instructions for his funeral and interment.

Atta and al-Shehhi are thought to have piloted the two planes that crashed into the trade center.

Motassadeq was questioned by police but allowed to remain free, under surveillance, while police developed a case against him. In a legal system crafted to avoid the abuses of the Nazi era, German police must have firm evidence before arrests can be made.

Motassadeq's role in the cell that operated out of Atta's three-room apartment in a southern suburb of Hamburg was funneling money to suspects while they were learning to fly planes at U.S. aviation schools, Nehm said.

"The accused managed a bank account set up for (suspected hijacker) Marwan al-Shehhi in Hamburg. From May 2000 to November 2000, large sums of money were regularly transferred into this account," the prosecutor said. "According to the information we have obtained to date, these funds were used to help members of the terrorist group."

Al-Shehhi was paid a monthly student stipend of more than $1,800 by the government of his native United Arab Emirates. German media have reported that he also was paid large sums through money transfer agencies by sources in the UAE.

Motassadeq has been registered as a student for the last six years at Hamburg's Technical University, where Atta and al-Shehhi studied. He is to be interrogated at the prosecutor's headquarters in Karlsruhe today.

When contacted at his Hamburg home by reporters in October, Motassadeq denied having anything to do with Atta or with terrorism.

German authorities have issued arrest warrants for three other men thought to have provided logistical help to the hijackers. They are 26-year-old German citizen Said Bahaji, 29-year-old Ramsi Binalshibh of Yemen and 24-year-old Zakariya Essabar of Morocco. All three are believed to have fled Germany before or soon after Sept. 11.

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