 HAMBURG - Mounir al-Motassadeq, 31, the student currently on trial a second time for his alleged role in the September 11, 2001 attacks, will resist German efforts to deport him to Morocco, his lawyer was quoted saying on Saturday.
| "Hey! You can't send me there!" |
This week legal counsel for another student, Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, 32, had said their client would voluntarily return to Morocco soon.
| "I' goin' back to turban territory!" |
His acquittal on terrorism and accessory-to-murder charges was confirmed on appeal by Germany's high court. The news weekly Der Spiegel quoted a lawyer saying Motassadeq insisted on staying in Germany till he had completed a degree at a technical university in suburban Hamburg. The story was released two days before Der Spiegel's publication Monday. The lawyer, Udo Jacob, said Motassadeq would resist a deportation order served on him last year "to the last court of appeal". That order is currently in suspense while Motassadeq, who is free on bail, participates in his own trial for being a member of a terrorist organization. Prosecutors say he knew of the plot and helped three of the 9-11 suicide pilots who were Hamburg students. Under current scheduling, a verdict is expected in August. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in jail at his first trial, but the verdict was quashed on appeal.
Hamburg officials say that even without a conviction for plotting the attacks on New York and Washington, there are ample grounds to deport both Moroccans. Evidence showed both attended Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. The Spiegel online news service said earlier it was not clear what would happen to the men in Morocco, but that Morocco had been known to hand over terrorism suspects to US authorities who took them to third countries for the Central Intelligence Agency to question.
| Perhaps we could finish his 'education' at the University of Diego Garcia. |
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