German Judge Frees Qaeda Suspect; Cites U.S. Secrecy

[UpInArms]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/12/international/europe/12HAMB.html?ex=1071810000&?en=97fc831fef117394&?ei=5062&?partner=GOOGLE

BERLIN, Dec. 11 — The United States' refusal to allow testimony from a jailed Qaeda figure prompted a Hamburg judge on Thursday to order the release of a Moroccan accused of aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers.

The judge acted after reviewing new evidence that Ramzi bin al- Shibh, a member of the Hamburg Qaeda cell that planned and executed the World Trade Center attacks, told American interrogators that only he and the three suicide pilots from the Hamburg cell knew about the attacks before they happened. The judge said that while he had strong doubts about the reliability of the evidence, he could not properly evaluate it without testimony from Mr. bin al-Shibh.

The trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in an American court in connection with the attacks, has also been thrown into doubt by the government's refusal to make captured Qaeda operatives available for questioning.

The new evidence will force a quick decision about the fate of another Moroccan, Mounir el- Motassadeq, who is the only person anywhere to have been convicted in connection with the attacks. That trial was also dogged by concerns that the American government had not been forthcoming with intelligence relevant to the case.

The man who was freed today, Abdelghani Mzoudi, 31, is charged with acting as an accessory in the deaths of more than 3,000 people on Sept. 11.

...more...

are you feeling safer in the "War on Terra" now?

[mmm]

1. CIA planned it. Big deal, no on cares.

It is always the next big sale that matters.

[Dirk39]

2. Hello from Hamburg,

it came as a complete surprise. Noone here expected this to happen, even not his lawyer. Even the judge was surprised by the behaviour of the BKA - our FBI - and the northamerican authorities. It's hard to find out what really happened. This day, I saw about 20 muslims kissing the ground in front of the building. Never seen such a thing before.
Dirk

[Cocoa]

5. you think it might be to embarrass Bush?

:shrug:

[MrPrax]

3. Maybe it really is a conspiracy...

and US authorities have no real evidence...
I thought I was being cynical in thinking this before...now...hmmm

[paulthompson]

4. Possible explanation

This is a surprise, but I can understand the logic. Mzoudi's defense team made clear that their defense was going to focus on the idea that their guy was innocent since the US gvmt itself was behind 9/11. Whether or not that would have won them the case is unknown, but it sure would have opened up a can of worms. For one, the defense would have asked for a lot of evidence that the US has kept secret until now, and of all the governments, the Germans are the most open about revealing and publically sharing such things. 9/11's victims relatives could even join in the suit and get copies of all the evidence, as they did with the trial of Motassedeq (one even put it all on a CD-ROM).

So a lot of new information could have come out in the trial. Second, the German public is much more open to the idea that the US was behind 9/11, with half of young people saying they believe that, and that was before a whole rash of new best selling German books on the subject. So the trial would allow the idea to come up over and over again and be debated publicly even more.

The US can put any words they want into bin al-Shibh's mouth or Khalid Shakih Mohammed's mouth, if indeed these people are alive and in US custody at all. It makes sense that they gave just the info to the trial necessary to put the trial to an end.

The irony is the story they gave puts a huge hole into the official story, yet again. Tons of books and articles talk about how extensive the Hamburg group was, with over a dozen members, and now that all turns out to be untrue? Which way was is it? If that's all wrong, then what else is wrong about the official story?

I've noticed that time and time again, the US prevents anyone actually connected with 9/11 from having their day in court, and now even Moussaoui's trial is almost certainly going to a military tribunal. The Congressional report on 9/11 released earlier this year points out there were 14 associates of the hijackers being investigated BEFORE 9/11, yet even now none of them have been arrested or tried. For instance, there was one San Diego based imam who seemed very close to a couple of the hijackers, but the FBI said he'd been cleared and knew nothing. Then Newsweek asked around about him, and found eyewitness neighbors claiming the imam told them before 9/11 he was leaving the country in early September because a big terrorist attack was coming.

It's hard to escape the conclusion that the US would rather let potential terrorists go free than have any more secrets of 9/11 come out. Is it any wonder more and more are believing that the US gvmt had foreknowledge?

There were a huge number of people who knew about the plot beforehand. The FBI even discovered one New York City imam who warned his entire mosque not to go near the WTC on 9/11, and found that he did have foreknowledge, but didn't know how. There are lots of cases like this in the public domain, and probably many more unknown cases where people kept quiet. How can it be that not even one person is going to be successfully convicted of anything related to 9/11?

[Old and In the Way]

6. You nailed it Paul.

"How can it be that not even one person is going to be successfully convicted of anything related to 9/11?"

How indeed. 2500+ americans died 9/11/01 and no justice served.

BTW, what's happened to Khalid Shakih Mohammed? Are we still holding his children incommunicado?

[paulthompson]

7. KSM

I have no idea what's up with Mohammed or his kids or his wife. As with most 9/11 things, it's shrouded in secrecy and confusion. I still strongly suspect that he's dead and so the US can't release his kids or wife for fear they'd reveal this fact. Isn't keeping eight year olds in custody just for being related to somebody criminal itself very illegal?

[Minstrel Boy]

10. "time and time again,

the US prevents anyone actually connected with 9/11 from having their day in court"

Funny that, eh?

Thanks Paul. Always appreciate your take on these matters.

[Robb]

8. Same story reported in the Guardian

...with just a little different take:

German trial of 9/11 suspect collapses

[Kellanved]

9. and in this thread

;-)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=264200

[banana republican]

11. So what is going to happen

to all the folks in gitmo after the election????


Mass graves????