9/11 conspirator jailed

Hamburg, Germany

A German court sentenced a Moroccan man to 15 years in prison this week for abetting the 9/11 hijackers. Mounir el-Motassadeq had been found guilty in 2005 of belonging to a terrorist organization. But an appeals court overturned the conviction and sought stronger charges, saying he had a direct role in planning the attack. Motassadeq belonged to the Hamburg Islamist cell that included 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta. Only one other person has been convicted for complicity in the attacks: Zacarias Moussaoui, often erroneously called “the 20th hijacker.” He is serving a life sentence in the United States.