German security experts want Sept. 11 plot defendant Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi to be sent home to Morocco, if he is acquitted in court next week, the magazine Der Spiegel reported yesterday. The weekly said an acquittal was believed likely in the Mzoudi case, with the Hamburg court to deliver a verdict on Jan. 22, in a story released in advance of publication. If there is an acquittal, security officials still regard Mzoudi as having been involved in the terrorist scene in view of his links with the Hamburg cell of terror pilots and for attending an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in 2000. âThere is no room in Germany for terrorists like him,â Hamburg Interior Senator (minister) commented to Der Spiegel.
| "We have enough nut cases running around that we can't seem to get rid of..." |
Mzoudi, 31, is charged on 3,000 counts as an accessory to murder in the Sept. 11, 2001 plane attacks and for belonging to a terrorist grouping. The prosecution is seeking the maximum 15-year prison term. The defense demanded an acquittal, saying prosecutors failed to make a compelling case to prove that Mzoudi was actively involved in the Hamburg cell thought to have plotted and carried out the attacks. The magazine said that Mzoudi, if acquitted, hopes to avoid being sent back to Morocco for fear that he might be arrested there and possibly extradited to the United States. Mzoudiâs residence permit for Germany expired while he was in trial detention and he has applied for an extension to permit him to complete his university studies, Der Spiegel said. The magazine said his lawyers have apparently abandoned the idea of filing for political asylum, a move they reportedly were mulling after Mzoudi was released from trial custody last month.
| Good idea. Though Norway would probably take him. |
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