HAMBURG, Aug 19: The only person convicted over the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States was found guilty in a retrial by a German court on Friday of belonging to a terrorist organization but cleared of being accessory to murder.

The court here jailed 31-year-old Mounir el Motassadeq for seven years for plotting holy war with fellow Muslim extremists, including three of the suicide hijackers, from 1999.

But it found there was no evidence he was directly involved in the plot to attack the US.

“The complete picture shows the accused as a member of a terrorist organization but not as an accomplice to the murders of Sept 11,” presiding judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt said.

The Moroccan national, who had been free for the duration of his year-long retrial, will now return to prison.

Defence attorney Ladislav Anisic told reporters he would appeal the decision while chief prosecutor Walter Hemberger welcomed a “success” but said he might also consider an appeal.

Interior Minister Otto Schily said in a statement: “We will continue to resolutely pursue all those who alone or in criminal organizations attack our civilization and want to destroy our peaceful coexistence with murder and terror.”—AFP