A man charged with mass murder over the September 11 attacks for taking video of the World Trade Center said today the video was merely part of a series of pictures he took on a long-awaited US holiday in 1997.
Ghasoub al Abrash Ghalyoun, a 39-year-old native of Syria, is one of 24 defendants on trial for belonging to al-Qaeda in Spain and one of three charged with 2,500 murders for helping the aircraft hijackers who attacked New York and Washington.
Ghalyoun recounted with glee his 1997 vacation in America in which he took video of the Sears Tower, the Golden Gate bridge, the Hollywood sign and other famous landmarks.
"I didn't just film emblematic centres but all tourist centres. Unfortunately at one of those tourist centres there was the misfortune that happened (on September 11, 2001). Of course, who would have thought it?" testified Ghalyoun, neatly groomed in a tan suit.
Regarding the Hollywood sign, "I couldn't believe I was filming it, I swear to you. This is the sign that you see in all the Hollywood movies," Ghalyoun said with a broad smile.
The case linking Ghalyoun to the World Trade Center attacks, for which he faces a sentence of 62,500 years in prison if convicted, is based on the video of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, which investigators allege he later turned over to other suspected members of al-Qaeda.
Ghalyoun denied showing the video to anyone but his wife. He also condemned terrorism and denied any ties to extremists.
The video, played for the court, displayed the hand of an amateur cameraman with zoom-ins and cut-aways of the Twin Towers, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.
There were also pictures of a friend's children and voice-over commentary with phrases like "Ah, Manhattan!" and for a group picture "say cheese".