France Tries Accused 9/11 Plotter

Three men charged with involvement in a deadly synagogue bombing in Tunisia went on trial Monday in Paris in a case expected to highlight the reach and complexity of al Qaeda-linked networks in North Africa.

Among those charged is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who says he orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. Mohammed is being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by U.S. authorities and was not present for the proceedings Monday. The French trial has no direct link to the investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

French prosecutors say Mohammed ordered the bombing of an ancient synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba on April 11, 2002. The attack killed 21 people - 14 German tourists, five Tunisians and two French people, prompting the French legal proceedings.

Family members of the victims gathered in the courthouse Monday, urging harsh sentences.

"We are hoping for a life sentence ... and we think there is sufficient evidence," said Judith-Adam Caumeil, a lawyer for the family members of the German victims.

Mohammed's two co-defendants were present for Monday's proceedings, which were largely procedural.

Christian Ganczarski, a German who converted to Islam, identified himself to the court in German and insisted on his innocence.

"I had nothing to do with the attack," he said, adding that some German documents were not translated for the trial. "The aim is not to find and establish the truth but an execution."

Defendant Wahid Naouar identified himself in French. His brother Nizar was the suicide bomber who drove a propane-laden truck into the synagogue.

Mohammed, Ganczarski and Wahid Naouar are charged with complicity in murder and complicity in attempted murder in the synagogue attack. They face life sentences if convicted. The trial is expected to last until Feb. 6.

Ganczarski's lawyer, Sebastien Bono, said French authorities have "already declared him guilty, and this poses a real problem for a fair trial."

French investigators say Nizar Naouar called Mohammed in Pakistan by satellite phone on the day of the bombing and received the order to attack. Prosecutors say Wahid Naouar knew an attack was planned and bought the phone that his brother used.

Prosecutors say phone taps by German police show that Nizar Naouar, the suicide bomber, sought Ganczarski's blessing for the attack. Prosecutors say Ganczarski was in contact with top al Qaeda officials, including Osama bin Laden, during trips to Afghanistan and worked with the network as a computer expert.

A month after the Tunisia attack, a statement in the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds said the attack was carried out by the Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Sites. The group had also claimed responsibility for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. U.S. investigators have long linked the Islamic Army to al Qaeda.

Mohammed has told interrogators he was the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, saying he proposed the plan to bin Laden as early as 1996.