Germany's federal appeals court confirmed on Thursday the acquittal of Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, who had been accused of assisting the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The German Federal Appeals Court in Karlsruhe upheld an earlier court decision to acquit the 32-year-old Moroccan student of all charges of aiding the Hamburg terror cell which launched the terror attacks on New York and Washington.

Mzoudi, who was a close friend of three of the pilots in the September 11 attacks, was first brought to trial in 2003 on charges of aiding and abetting in the murder of more than 3,000 people.

The trial collapsed and Mzoudi was later acquitted in a February 2004 appeals decision.

The federal court's ruling means no further appeal is possible and it brings closure to the case.

German Interior Minister Otto Schily said he accepted that someone could only be punished if guilt had been proven."The fight against terrorism had to be conducted within the scope of the law. "

Mzoudi, a 32-year-old Moroccan student, planned to move voluntarily back to Morocco as soon as he can, said his lawyer, Gul Pinar.

The case was one of three criminal trials involving the "9/11" attacks plot. Mounir al-Motassadeq is currently on trial on similar charges in Hamburg while suspect Zacarias Moussaoui is on trial in the United States.

Source: Xinhua