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CNN Live At Daybreak

German Authorities Arrest Moroccan Man Who Shared Bank Account with Mohammed Atta

Aired November 29, 2001 - 05:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, an arrest in Germany is being called an important step in tracking down the September 11 terrorists. Authorities say that a Moroccan student shared a bank account with one of the hijackers.

We learn more now from CNN's Berlin Bureau Chief, Bettina Luescher. She is joining us for the latest on that. And we're also going to hear more about the efforts to form a new government for Afghanistan -- Bettina, good to see you.

BETTINA LUESCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good to see you, too.

Daryn, what we have here in Germany now is the first arrest in connection with the September 11th attack. German authorities have arrested a 27-year-old Moroccan student, an electronic engineering student who says he was a close friend of Mohamed Atta. And German authorities are saying that he logistically -- he's under suspicion to logistically support the terrorist group, the Hamburg cell, to which Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi belonged.

We sat down with this student for an exclusive interview a few weeks before his arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUESCHER (voice-over): Mounir El-Motassadeq was nervous when we met him in early October. No wonder. He said he was friends with two of the alleged hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center, Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi. And perhaps he might have feared what has happened now. He's under arrest and under investigation. German prosecutors say they suspect him of logistically supporting the Hamburg cell of the terrorist group.

Back in October, El-Motassadeq described his friendship with Mohamed Atta.

MOUNIR EL-MOTASSADEQ: We were normal friends. That means we are Muslims. We help each other out. We meet in the mosque. We discuss things. Totally normal.

LUESCHER: How much he helped the others in the alleged Hamburg terror cell is now the focus of an investigation. German prosecutors say the 27-year-old Moroccan electronic engineering student is suspected of managing the Hamburg bank account of al-Shehhi, whom El- Motassadeq knew from the mosque and the university where they studied.

Prosecutors say that Hamburg bank account was used to regularly transfer large sums of money between May and November 2000. Some of that money, say prosecutors, was used to finance Marwan al-Shehhi's stay and flight training in the United States. I asked him whether he had a power of attorney for al-Shehhi's bank account.

EL-MOTASSADEQ: That's right, why? This is typical, normal, when you help others here. Marwan, when he traveled, then one had to help him with the apartment, also for the university tuition.

LUESCHER: El-Motassadeq denied published reports he had wired almost $1,000 to Mohamed Atta and $2,300 to fugitive Ramzi Binalshibh, now being sought by Interpol for mass murder, terrorism and conspiracy relating to the September 11 attacks. Often when we pressed El- Motassadeq on details, he said he had no idea or could not remember.

At one point, we asked about his signature on Mohamed Atta's will.

EL-MOTASSADEQ: I don't remember.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUESCHER: Well, one thing that Mounir El-Motassadeq did remember was that he took a trip to Karachi, Pakistan in the summer of 2000. He said it was just for vacation. He left his wife and a small child alone for several weeks. But he told us that he couldn't remember exactly when he went there, how long he was there, where he stayed or what exactly he did.

So that's a lot of questions here surrounding this man, who is now under arrest by German authorities -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bettina, let's talk about what brings you to this area outside of Bonn, Germany, and that is these efforts to form a new government for Afghanistan. How did those talks go?

LUESCHER: Well, they met late into the night in this hotel here up on this hill behind me. The Afghan delegations coming really down to the nitty gritty, to the details of a possible deal. A U.N. spokesman said this morning they are still far from a deal, but they are inching slowly towards an agreement.

What we have learned this morning is from sources is that they have agreed on a formula to set up a transitional supreme council. That will be a group of maybe 120 to 200 people who would come up with a road map for how to further run Afghanistan. They are apparently forming two commissions, we are told by sources, to now choose exactly who could be on such a supreme council and then really come up with a further plan of where Afghanistan will go.

The U.N. is really pushing these Afghan delegates to come up with a deal. They say if there is no deal here this would send a really bad signal, for example, to the outside world, to possible donor countries who are ready to, and standing by with hundreds of millions, maybe billions of dollars to pump up into Afghanistan's humanitarian aid and also reconstruction -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bettina, is there a time frame or time limit on these talks?

LUESCHER: Not really. What the U.N. keeps on saying very politely and diplomatically is they don't want to stress out the German hosts too much and their hospitality. There have been estimates they could wrap it up by Sunday, but it also could go longer if they don't come to an agreement. Again, many of the details of this overall bigger package still have to be worked out -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bettina Luescher reporting to us from just outside of Bonn, Germany.

Bettina, thank you very much.

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