HAMBURG, Germany, March 4 (UPI) -- A German court granted a retrial Thursday to the only suspect tried for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York and Washington.
While a Hamburg court found Mounir El Motassadeq guilty last year of being a member of the cell that supplied three of the suicide hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, Judge Klaus Toldorf ruled the evidence against him had not been sufficient for a conviction.
Motassadek, 29, had been serving a 15-year sentence after being convicted in February 2003.
His lawyers had argued he did not receive a fair trial because the United States had refused access to a key witness in its custody, Sky News said.
They said suspected al-Qaida chief Ramzi Binalshibh could have provided proof of Motassadeq's innocence if he had been allowed to give evidence.
Binalshibh reportedly told investigators the only members of the Hamburg group aware of the plans to attack the United States were himself and three of the eventual plane hijackers.
