Mounir el-Motassadeq, 44, was sentenced to 15 years in jail for 9/11 attacks

The terrorist was found guilty of accessory to murder on 8 January 2007

Motassadeq handled finances for several of the 9/11 plane hijackers

He has been released from prison early, and will be deported back to Morocco

A Moroccan man convicted of helping some of the 9/11 suicide pilots will be deported from Germany to his home country today.

Mounir el-Motassadeq, 44, was a member of a group of radical Islamists based in Hamburg, northern Germany, and found guilty of helping bring about the 2001 terror attacks in the United States which killed nearly 3,000 people.

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Motassadeq associated with several of the 9/11 hijackers, and in 2007, prosecutors proved that he handled their finances, and even signed the will of Mohamed Atta, the man who piloted the plane which hit World Trade Centre's North Tower.

Moved: Convicted terrorist Mounir el-Motassadeq, 44, is led from one helicopter to another at the airport in Hamburg, northern Germany

Handed the maximum sentence of 15 years in 2007 for being an accessory to mass murder, Motassadeq is one of only two men convicted to date of involvement in the plot.

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Photographs taken earlier today show a man with his eyes covered, identified as Motassadeq, being led by two armed policemen to a helicopter.

German media reported that he would be taken to Frankfurt to be deported to Morocco, where his wife and children lives.

'Everything is going according to plan,' said a spokesman for the state of Hamburg's interior ministry, declining to give details, other than to say that Motassadeq's release was permissible from October 15 if he was deported immediately.

Mounir el-Motassadeq, 44, was a member of a group of radical Islamists based in Hamburg, northern Germany

Once in Morocco, Motassadeq will be a free man, however, experts say he is likely to be closely monitored by local authorities.

Phil Gurski, a former strategic analyst in the Canadian intelligence community, told Deutsche Welle that the Moroccan government will most likely gather intel on him and pass it on to the United States.

However, he added: 'I'd be very surprised if the US had no interest in him.'

Local news has previously reported that Motassadeq had been due to remain in prison until early 2019, and it is not known why he appears to have been granted early release.

El Motassadeq was convicted of being part of the so-called Hamburg cell, including Atta and fellow Sept. 11 pilots Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah.

German courts ruled that Motassadeq was aware the three planned to hijack and crash planes, even though he might not have known the specifics of the plot.

They said Motassadeq had helped "watch the attackers' backs and conceal them" by doing things such as helping them keep up the appearance of being regular university students paying tuition and rent fees, and transferring money.

Terrorist: Motassadeq was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2007, after being found guilty of helping three of the 9/11 attackers

It is thought the 44-year-old will be deported as soon as possible, after which he will be a free man in his home country Morocco

El Motassadeq acknowledged training at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, but insisted he knew nothing of his friends' plans to attack the U.S.

'I swear by God that I did know the attackers were in America,' he shouted in accented German at a sentencing hearing. 'I swear by God that I did not know what they wanted to do.'

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His attorney, Jan Jacob, refused to comment on the deportation, which brings to an end a lengthy legal saga in Germany.

Originally arrested in Hamburg in November 2001, el Motassadeq was convicted in 2003 of membership in a terrorist organization and thousands of counts of accessory to murder - taking into account victims on the ground - becoming the first person convicted anywhere on charges related to Sept. 11. He was sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison.

However, a federal court overturned that verdict in 2004, largely because of a lack of evidence from al-Qaida suspects in U.S. custody, and sent the case back to Hamburg.

Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at 9.03am on September 11, 2001 in New York City

After a 2005 retrial, Motassadeq was again convicted of membership in a terrorist organization that included Atta, al-Shehhi and Jarrah. But he was acquitted of being an accessory to murder after the court ruled it didn't have enough evidence that he knew of the hijackers' plot.

Motassadeq was sentenced to seven years in prison at the time, but was freed in early 2006 until his appeal could be heard.

Later that year, the federal court reversed the Hamburg court's acquittal of Motassadeq on the accessory to murder charges, ruling that the evidence knew the plotters planned to hijack and crash planes. It limited the number of counts, however, to the 246 people killed aboard the airplanes and the 15-year sentence was restored.

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Authorities in Hamburg said they would confirm the deportation once it has taken place.