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| Europe |
| Germany arrests two men linked to planned terror attacks |
| 2008-09-19 |
| German authorities arrested two men suspected of supporting a Sunni Muslim group that prosecutors say was linked to plans to attack U.S. facilities in German cities last year. The two 27-year-old men -- a German of Afghan origin identified as Omid S. and a Turkish national called Huseyin O -- were taken into custody yesterday in the Frankfurt area, the German Federal Prosecutor said today in a statement. The prosecutor said both men traveled to Pakistan last year for training at a militant camp, and they provided aid to a network that was planning what authorities say could have been one of the worst terrorist attacks on German soil. A year ago, police unveiled the alleged plot when they seized hydrogen peroxide-based explosives with more power than those used in Madrid in March 2004 or London in July 2005. The bombers were targeting U.S. citizens and facilities in cities including Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart, the prosecutor said two weeks ago. The three men arrested then, identified as Fritz Martin G., Adem Y. and Daniel Martin S., were members of the Islamic Jihad Union and also trained at camps in Pakistan, from where they allegedly planned to ``take the Jihad to Germany,'' the prosecutor said. The three were formally charged with plotting terrorist attacks on Sept. 5. The two men arrested yesterday were sent to camps on the Pakistani-Afghan border at the instigation of Adem Y., who also took both men's debit cards to fund the plot, the prosecutor said. They also furnished the IJU network with objects including binoculars, an infrared beam, mosquito nets, flashlights, batteries and compasses, the authorities said. While Huseyin O was apprehended by Pakistani authorities in July 2007 and didn't make it to the training camp, Omid S. received training between May and September of last year and was planning to return this month before he was arrested. |
| Posted by:ryuge |