The September-11 hijackers should be understood as human beings, the makers of a controversial television drama that charts their story said yesterday.

The Hamburg Cell, which follows the movements of two hijackers from the German based al Qaeda group involved in the US attacks, was screened in Britain on yesterday and has attracted criticism from relatives of victims.

“Unless you know your enemies you don’t know how to deal with them, and just demonising them doesn’t help,” said David Aukin, head of drama at Mentorn Films, the production company behind the programme.

“Understanding that they are human beings gives us some sense of what we are up against.”

The two hour drama traces the stories of Ziad Jarrah, who was at the controls of the flight that crashed into a Pennsylvanian field and Mohamed Atta, described as the leader of the German group, who flew the plane which hit the north tower of the World Trade Centre in New York.

Spanning three continents and five years, it re-enacts the known movements of the men as they plotted and trained for the attacks. It seeks to examine what drove a man like Jarrah, who arrived in Germany as a moderate Muslim and left the country bent on destruction.

<B>Positive reviews </B>

Relatives of victims have said the drama should not have been made so soon after the attacks, three years ago this month.

“Having read the previews of The Hamburg Cell in the British press, we support it for highlighting warnings that went unheeded, however, we feel the timing is insensitive,” said Mary Fetchet, whose son died in the attacks, and who founded the US advocacy group Voices of September 11th.

The film, which is being screened on the publicly owned Channel 4, has received positive reviews in British newspapers. The Guardian applauded writers Ronan Bennett and Alice Perman.

“The dialogue and action are utterly gripping and believable, and Bennett and Perman have shown much restraint in letting the events speak for themselves,” it said.

The Daily Mail described the film as a “sober, chilling depiction” of educated men galvanised by fundamentalism.

But it proved too much for US cable network HBO, who dropped out of financing the project last year. Mentorn’s Aukin, whose firm’s other work includes the programmes Hitler’s Legacy and Bin Laden’s Plan of Terror, said foreign firms are showing interest in buying The Hamburg Cell and that HBO have rekindled their interest. HBO could not be immediately reached for comment.

<B>Alistair Macdonald</B>