HAMBURG, Germany, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Convicted Sept. 11 plotter Mounir el Motassadeq had his prison sentence doubled to 15 years Tuesday by a German court.
Motassadeq had been found guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization and abetting the killing of 246 people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking of one of the airliners flown into New York's World Trade Center.
The Moroccan national was linked to Mohammad Atta, known to be among the al-Qaeda hijacking team, while attending college in Hamburg, Germany. He was accused of allowing his bank account to be used as a repository for funds for a Hamburg al-Qaeda cell.
Motassadeq stood trial three times before becoming the first defendant convicted in the Sept. 11 attacks, Deutsche Welle said. He was originally sentenced to seven years behind bars.
