Defense Wants Bush to Testify at German 9/11 Trial

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]