KARLSRUHE, Germany – Three suspected al Qaeda members had been
planning a bomb attack in Germany for four months when they were arrested,
federal prosecutors said.
Rainer Griesbaum, a federal prosecutor, told a news conference on Saturday
that the trio, led by a 29-year-old Moroccan, had planned to detonate their
device in a crowded area but had not yet picked a target.
"They were still in the experimental phase," Griesbaum said. "They were
planning to explode a device packed with pieces of metal in the midst of a large
crowd."
German authorities said the suspects, arrested on Friday, had discussed
planting the bomb on a bus or at a bus stop.
The three were detained in police raids in Duesseldorf and the nearby city of
Bochum at 6:30 a.m. on Friday after authorities, who had been monitoring the
group, decided they might be getting close to carrying out an attack.
Prosecutors said the public had not been in danger.
Bild newspaper reported that the Eurovision Song Contest, watched by more
than 100 million television viewers, was a possible target. The contest will be
held in the western city of Duesseldorf on May 14.
The suspected ringleader, a 29-year-old college drop-out identified as
Abdeladim El-K., was charged with planning a terror attack in Germany and being
a member of a foreign terror organization. The other two suspects are still
being questioned.
Griesbaum said the 29-year-old Moroccan had attended an al Qaeda terror camp
in the Waziristan region of Pakistan near the Afghan border in 2010. He returned
to Germany in May 2010 and was attempting to build a terror network here with an
estimated seven to eight members.
"But it could also be more than that," said Joerg Ziercke, president of the
Federal Crime Office (BKA), at the news conference at the federal prosecutor's
office in Karlsruhe. "We'll learn more with our investigation."
The suspects had cheered Thursday's bombing in Marrakesh where 15 were
killed, Griesbaum said.
NOT A SUICIDE BOMBING
The other suspects are a 31-year-old electrician identified as Jamil S., who
holds dual German and Moroccan citizenship, and a 19-year-old with German and
Iranian citizenship, Amid C., who was about to graduate from high school.
Jamil S. was tasked to arrange the financing of the attack and obtain
identity papers for Abdeladim El-K. Amid C. was responsible for ensuring
encrypted communication.
Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine reported on Saturday that the CIA as well
as Morocco's intelligence agency had worked with German authorities on the
investigation.
Ziercke said the three had inspected public buildings and downloaded
information on explosives from the internet.
"But we don't have any indications that they were planning a suicide
bombing," Ziercke said.
Authorities said they decided to launch the raid on Friday when the suspects
discussed making a "detonator for a bomb" by extracting hexamine from barbecue
firelighters and mixing that with hydrogen peroxide and citric acid.
Last year, a court in Duesseldorf convicted four militants who admitted
planning "a monstrous bloodbath" with car bomb attacks on U.S. targets. They
were known as the "Sauerland group" after the area of western Germany where they
were caught.
European countries have grappled with militant threats for years, regularly
arresting individuals or groups suspected of planning attacks some fear could
mirror bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005 which killed more than 200
people.
Berlin views Germany as a potential target because it has nearly 5,000
military personnel stationed in Afghanistan, the third largest contingent of the
150,000-strong international force fighting the Taliban-led insurgency. Reuters
