Lawyers for a Moroccan man accused in Germany of aiding and abetting
the Sept. 11 attacks called Tuesday for President Bush to be summoned
as a witness. Lawyer Udo Jacob, defending accused Moroccan Mounir El
Motassadeq, said Bush should be called to testify about accusations he
granted the CIA powers to send terrorism suspects to foreign countries
for interrogation. The United States has already turned down a request
for former CIA chief George Tenet to testify at Motassadeq's trial, and
there is no prospect of Bush appearing in court. But Jacob raised the
issue to draw attention to the circumstances in which two al Qaeda
leaders, whose evidence is central to the case, were captured and
interrogated by the United States. Washington has declined to allow the
Hamburg court to question the two men, Ramzi bin al-Shaibah and Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed, but has made available summaries of information they
revealed under questioning at unknown locations. The defense alleges
both key witnesses were probably tortured and the case against
Motassadeq should therefore be dropped. "There is concern about torture
during the questioning," Jacob said. [more]