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Hamburg court frees 9/11 suspect
HAMBURG, Germany (CNN) -- A Hamburg court has ordered the release of the only suspect convicted in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
The court decided Wednesday to release Mounir El Motassadeq, 30, pending a retrial set for June 16.
El Motassadeq was released on condition he remain in Hamburg and report to police twice a week.
In a statement, the court said El Motassadeq "is no longer an urgent suspect in the charge of accomplice to murder, but only as a member of a terrorist organization."
The Moroccan had been serving a maximum 15-year prison term in Hamburg since a court convicted him in February 2003.
However, an appeals court ruled last month that El Motassadeq was denied a fair trial because the U.S. government refused access to a key witness in its custody.
El Motassadeq consistently denied the charges during his three-and-a-half-month trial.
He was found guilty of providing logistical support for the Hamburg al Qaeda cell that included lead September 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta, who piloted one of the two airliners that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.
His lawyers asked the appeals court for acquittal or a retrial, alleging their client was wrongly convicted because the United States refused to allow court testimony by Ramzi Binalshibh, thought to be the Hamburg cell's key contact with al Qaeda.
Binalshibh was captured in Pakistan on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks and is in U.S. custody.
