German Court Refuses Moroccan's Appeal

Moroccan Mounir El Motassadeq, left, and his lawyer Udo Jacob, right, are pictured prior the trial at a court in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Monday, Jan. 8, 2007. Motassadeq, a friend of the Sept. 11 hijackers who was found guilty in Nov. 2006 of being an accessory to mass murder, appeared at the court on Monday to a hearing to decide his sentence.(AP Photo/Fabian Bimmer, Pool) (Fabian Bimmer - AP)

BERLIN -- Germany's highest court on Friday refused to take up the appeal of a Moroccan man convicted of helping three of the Sept. 11 suicide pilots.

Mounir el Motassadeq, 32, was convicted in November of being an accessory to the murder of the 246 passengers and crew on the four jetliners used in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

A court in Hamburg on Monday gave el Motassadeq the maximum penalty under German law of 15 years in prison.

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe said Friday it would not hear el Motassadeq's appeal. His attorneys had claimed that evidence from other terrorism suspects was not properly considered at trial.

Another appeal to Germany's federal appeals court has been filed and it was not yet clear when that may be addressed. Defense attorney Udo Jacob said he also was investigating whether to take the case to the European Court for Human Rights.

"It's the last resort," Jacob said. "I'm still of the opinion that basic rights have been violated here."

El Motassadeq was a friend of pilots Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah when they lived and studied in Hamburg. He has acknowledged training at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan and that he was close to the three hijackers though has always maintained he knew nothing of their plans.

However, the federal appeals court said evidence showed el Motassadeq knew that the men planned to hijack and crash planes and that his actions _ transferring money, and helping the hijackers keep up the appearance of being regular university students by paying tuition, fees and rent _ facilitated the attacks.

El Motassadeq was arrested in November 2001 and has spent about three years in custody _ time that would be counted against any final sentence.