France and Germany agreed today to co-operate in the US trial of a French man charged over the September 11th attacks after Washington assured them their evidence would not be used to obtain the death penalty.
The two countries, where the death penalty is banned, had previously resisted some US demands for information about Mr Zacarias Moussaoui, who US officials believe was intended to be the 20th hijacker in the attacks.
"Consistent with its position during this whole affair, the French government has obtained guarantees from the United States that any information passed on will not be used...with the aim of pronouncing or executing the death penalty," Justice Minister Ms Dominique Perben said in a statement. Ms Perben said the move came after discussions with his German counterpart Brigitte Zypries.
A Justice Ministry spokeswoman in Berlin confirmed Germany was now also ready to cooperate.
"This is not a change in the German position, what has happened is that the United States has made it possible for Germany to assist with providing evidence," she said.
"The United States has assured Germany that evidence will not be used for imposing the death penalty."
Mr Moussaoui, a French national of Moroccan descent, was arrested in Minnesota on immigration charges in August 2001.
He faces six charges of conspiring to carry out the September 11th hijacked aircraft attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which killed more than 3,000 people. Four of the six charges against him carry a possible death sentence, a punishment banned across Europe.
Mr Moussaoui has denied involvement in the attacks, but has admitted to being a member of al-Qaeda. The United States has blamed Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network for the attacks.
German investigators reportedly have evidence linking Mr Moussaoui to Mr Mohamed Atta, the suspected ringleader of the hijackings and the man who piloted the first plane that crashed into the Twin Towers.