Moroccan charged over 11 September

Three of the hijackers had lived in Hamburg

Germany has charged a Moroccan man over his alleged links with the 11 September terror attacks against the United States.

Motassadek was arrested on suspicion of "supporting a terrorist cell"

Mounir al-Motassadek, who allegedly knew two of the suicide hijackers who crashed planes into the World Trade Center, was arrested in November in Hamburg and has been held in detention since.

Federal Prosecutor Kay Nehm said the charges related to his "participation in the terrorist attacks", and said further details of the indictment would be released on Thursday.

Hamburg has been a focus of investigation into the attacks since it emerged that three of the hijackers spent a considerable amount of time in the city, where they were enrolled at a local university.

The 28-year-old Moroccan is the first person to be charged in Germany in connection with the attacks, which killed more than 3,000 people.

Financial support

Mr Motassadek lived in the same Hamburg neighbourhood as the suspected hijack ringleader Mohammed Atta and also knew Marwan Al Shehhi, another of the suicide hijackers, according to German prosecutors.

Mr Motassadek was arrested in November on suspicion of "supporting the Hamburg cell of a terrorist network".

In a statement issued shortly after his arrest, prosecutors said he managed a bank account for Marwan al-Shehhi which received large funds on a regular basis.

"According to our current information, this money was used for the financial support of members of the terrorist organisation," it read.

"Among other things, the funds were used to provide Al Shehhi with the necessary financial support for his stay in the United States and for the flying instruction he received there."

Shehhi and Atta trained together at flight schools in Florida, US investigators have said, before embarking on their suicide mission.

German police are still hunting three other men who they say lived with Atta.

The three had reportedly tried to enter the United States but had been denied visas.