Germany arrests al-Qaeda suspect

Mzoudi was allegedly aware of the group's aims

German police say they have arrested a Moroccan man suspected of helping an al-Qaeda cell involved in the 11 September attacks on the United States.

11 September hijacker Mohammed Atta was based in Hamburg

Police arrested 29-year-old Abdelghani Mzoudi in Hamburg on Thursday, Federal State Prosecutor Kay Nehm said in a statement.

Mr Mzoudi is suspected of providing logistical support to Mohammed Atta and other suicide hijackers, the statement said.

He is also alleged to have attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan in the summer of 2000.

Close contacts

Several of the 11 September hijackers, including alleged ringleader Mohammed Atta, spent time in Hamburg and were members of an al-Qaeda cell in the city.

Abdelghani Mzoudi "was aware of the aim of the group to commit terrorist attacks and supported it logistically", the prosecutor's statement claimed.

Hamburg police said they have video footage from suspected cell member Said Bahaji's wedding, which shows Mr Mzoudi together with Atta, indicating the men had had contact of some kind.

Ramzi Binalshibh is also alleged to have helped the hijackers

Mr Mzoudi lived in an apartment with Zakariya Essabar and Ramzi Binalshibh, two other suspected members of the Hamburg terror cell.

Prosecutors said Mr Mzoudi made money available to Zakariya Essabar in 2000, to finance his planned flight training in the US.

Mr Essabar, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, was a possible candidate for taking part in the 11 September hijackings, the statement alleged.

Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni national believed by German prosecutors to have been the cell's key contact with al-Qaeda, was arrested in Pakistan in September and is now in US custody.

Investigators believe Mr Binalshibh would also have been among the hijackers, had he not tried and failed four times to obtain a US visa.

Under investigation

Mr Mzoudi is also alleged to have had close contacts with Mounir al-Motassadek, the only other person being held in Germany in connection with the 11 September attacks.

Mounir al-Motassadek is due to go on trial later this month.

Abdelghani Mzoudi had been under investigation since October.

He was questioned in July after he formed a Hamburg Islamic group with seven other men.

His arrest was a result of "complex investigations and a witness statement that emerged only this summer on his stay in Afghanistan," the prosecutor's statement said.

Mr Mzoudi will be brought before the Federal Supreme Court on Friday.