Terror Suspect Admits Al Qaeda Money Link

The trial of suspected Al Qaeda logistics expert Mounir El Motassadeq entered its third day in Hamburg on Tuesday with the Moroccan admitting involvement in the transfer of funds between the bank account of one of the hijackers and terror suspect Ramzi Binalshibh.

El Motassadeq, who lived in the northern German city at the same time as the suspected leader of the September 11th hijackers, Mohamed Atta, has already surprised the court by admitting that he had attended an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in the summer of 2000.

Suspect transferred cash to suicide hijacker

The 28 year old El Motassadeq told the court in German that he sent 2,541 euro ($2,500) to the Hamburg cell's alleged Al Qaeda contact Ramzi Binalshibh from the account of Marwan al-Shehhi, one of the September 11th suicide hijackers.

But despite this admission, El Motassadeq continues to protest his innocence claiming that he had no idea of the plans of the terrorists.

Further revelations into the suspected links between El Motassadeq and the Hamburg cell came to light when the defendant acknowledged knowing a third Hamburg-based suicide pilot, Ziad Jarrah.

El Motassadeq is accused of aiding Sept. 11 hi-jackers, Jarrah, al-Shehhi and Atta, who all lived in Hamburg before they piloting the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and in Pennsylvania.

Under cross examination, El Motassadeq told the prosecuting counsel that he had been frightened to reveal his relationship with the three men when he was first questioned by investigators days after the attacks in the United States.

"I didn't want to say I knew Jarrah, al-Shehhi or the others because it was dangerous," he said in the Hamburg state court earlier in the trial.

Binalshibh alleged to have overseen operation's funding

From behind bullet-proof glass in the witness box, El Motassadeq admitted that he transferred funds from al-Shehhi's account to the 30 year old Yemeni Ramzi Binalshibh, now in U.S. custody after being arrested in Pakistan.

He told the court that Binalshibh had contacted him in August 2000 by hand-written fax from Yemen, ordering the money to be sent from al-Shehhi's bank account. The fax said, "Marwan needs money". El Motassadeq said he thought al-Shehhi was in Afghanistan at the time.

"I didn't know from any of these people that they were in America."

Presiding Judge Albrecht Mentz suggested that El Motassadeq was not telling the truth. He noted that the defendant had testified that when he trained in Afghanistan, he needed almost no funds. The question was why El Motassadeq believed the money was going to al-Shehhi in Afghanstan if he knew that money was not needed.

"I can't understand why, when someone is there, they would need money," Mentz said.

Money suspected of use in paying for flying lessons

The prosecution believes that the money was intended for the funding of flying lessons that al-Shehhi and Atta were taking at the Huffman Aviation flight school in the United States from July 2000 to January 2001.

The truth about the money's journey and the intention behind its transfer may still be known. German authorities are currently trying to arrange with the Americans for Ramzi Binalshibh to give evidence in the Hamburg trial.

The trial is expected to last until January 2003.