Survivor reveals how Hamburg terror cell planned 9/11
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Special to World Tribune.com
GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT.COM
Monday, September 9, 2002
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When other members of his cell traveled to America, Motassadeq was ordered to return to Hamburg and assimilate into non-Muslim society.
Mounir El Motassadeq
Age: 28
Organization:Al Qaida
Where recruited:Technical University
in Hamburg
Born: Morocco.
Whereabouts: Hamburg, Germany
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Mounir El Motassadeq is believed to be the only person arrested in Germany who
was part of a plot that had targeted the World Trade Center as early as
April 2000. The rest of the gang was either killed on Sept. 11, 2001 or
escaped.
El Motassadeq was born in Morocco in 1974 to a family with means. He
studied in local schools and in 1993 made his way to Germany and joined
thousands of North African immigrants who sought education and jobs. El
Motassadeq quickly found a job in a restaurant, but did not feel comfortable
in Germany. His command of the language was poor; he felt awkward in German
society. Instead, he sought the company of his North African compatriots.
He found this companionship when he enrolled in the Technical University
in Hamburg in 1995 and studied electrical engineering. El Motassadeq met Islamic fundamentalists at the university, many of
them from Egypt and Tunisia who had fled their homeland amid a crackdown by
their regimes against the opposition. Germany was willing, even eager, to
provide these young men with asylum and opportunity.
At university, the slightly-built El Motassadeq met Mohammed Atta. Atta
was five years older than El Motassadeq and already an articulate spokesman
of jihad, or Islamic holy war against the West and its values.
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A man walks past the home of Mounir El Motassadeq Wednesday in Hamburg, Germany, shortly after authorities announced the arrest of the 27-year-old Moroccan.
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But there were others at Hamburg that turned El Motassadeq's head
around. One was Marwan Al Shehhi. Another was Ziad Jarrah. They shared an
apartment and discussed the tenets of jihad, their hatred of Jews and the
United States, their support for Nazis and the need for Muslims to fight the
infidels. At a certain point, El Motassadeq was convinced. Along with his
fellow Muslim students, he flew to Afghanistan for terrorist training in Al
Qaida camps. They met with Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri. When they
returned they became Al Qaida's cell in Hamburg.
German authorities said the newly-formed seven-member cell traveled
around Europe and to the United States, often returning back to Hamburg to
take tests, complete university courses and even take a class trip to a
local nuclear plant. Cell members attended flight schools for pilot
training, shared intelligence and logistics with Al Qaida cells in London,
Rome and other locations and prepared for a major Al Qaida attack against
the West.
El Motassadeq was regarded as the logistics expert. His job was to find
a target and determine its feasibility. One potential site for an Al Qaida
attack was the Hamburg airport. El Motassadeq worked as a cleaner at the busy
airport and had access to both aircraft and secure areas.
From 1996 to 1998, El Motassadeq, who easily obtained security
clearance, studied the Hamburg airport. But Atta, who appeared to be the leader
of the Al Qaida cell, vetoed Hamburg as a target. By 1999, his orders were
to target the United States.
As a result, El Motassadeq invested his efforts for a suicide air attack
that involved the hijacking of airliners. El Motassadeq was the financial
expert. He paid salaries to the suicide pilots from Al Qaida bank transfers,
sent the agents to flight schools in Florida and prepared the logistics for
the eventual attack.
But the cell could not decide where in the United States Al Qaida would
attack. Several targets were discussed but in the end Al Qaida terrorist
leaders in Afghanistan decided they wanted another crack at the World Trade
Center. Islamic fundamentalists had tried to destroy the Twin Towers in
1993, but were unsuccessful.
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