According to prosecutors, Mr Motassadeq was part of an al-Qaeda cell based in Hamburg, which also included three of the dead hijackers.

ECONOMIST: Money, bombs and bin Laden | The

Mr Motassadeq is waiting to be retried on charges of being an accessory to more than 3, 000 murders, after his conviction was quashed for lack of evidence.

ECONOMIST: An explosive relationship | The

The trial took an intriguing turn on October 29th, when Mr al-Motassadeq told the court that some of his alleged co-plotters had wanted to fight against the Russians in Chechnya, and that they had planned to travel to the breakaway republic after training in Afghanistan.

ECONOMIST: The hunt continues | The