German suspects used teen as smuggler
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 29, 2009 00:00
DÜSSELDORF, Germany - Two Turks are among the four accused of plotting attacks against US targets in Germany. One investigator working on the case says the group used a minor to smuggle the fuses to Germany from Turkey, where he was approached by someone who also spoke German.
A radical Islamic terror cell that allegedly plotted to attack U.S. targets in Germany used a teenager to smuggle triggering devices for their bombs into the country from Turkey, an investigator testified Wednesday. Two Turks are thought to be entangled in the group.
The boy, who was 15 at the time and is now 17, allegedly smuggled the fuses back to Germany in a pair of shoes in the summer of 2007, federal investigator Dirk Iserlohn told the Düsseldorf state court.
The boy, a German of Tunisian background, refused to testify but Iserlohn said that in statements the teenager made to authorities earler, he had identified suspect Fritz Gelowicz as the person to whom he delivered the fuses.
The boy has not been charged, and his name has not been released due to his age.
Gelowicz, 29, along with Adem Yılmaz, 30, Daniel Schneider, 23, and Attila Selek, 24, are accused of planning car bomb attacks on various sites, including the U.S. Air Force's Ramstein base.
All the suspects are accused of being members of the radical Islamic Jihad Union, an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. They face charges including membership in a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder.
730 kilograms of hydrogen peroxide replaced
The group had stockpiled 730 kilograms of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide, purchased from a chemical supplier, and could have mixed the peroxide with other substances to make explosives equivalent to 550 kilograms of dynamite, German officials have said.
But German authorities - acting partly on intelligence from the U.S. - had been watching them and covertly replaced all of the hydrogen peroxide with a diluted substitute that could not have been used to produce a bomb.
Gelowicz and Schneider, both German converts to Islam, were arrested in Germany along with Yılmaz, who is Turkish. Selek, also Turkish, was arrested in Turkey and then extradited to Germany for trial.
The trial, which opened in April in a high-security courtroom, is scheduled to last at least until the end of August.
Investigators have said Selek was in Turkey to procure the triggering devices for the bombs.
However, Iserlohn said the teenager told investigators that he could not identify who had given him the items to bring back to Germany.
He said he had been approached by someone who also spoke German and asked if he could bring back items for a friend, the federal agent testified. After he agreed, he was given a bag with the shoes and also a pair of pants.
The boy, who was 15 at the time and is now 17, allegedly smuggled the fuses back to Germany in a pair of shoes in the summer of 2007, federal investigator Dirk Iserlohn told the Düsseldorf state court.
The boy, a German of Tunisian background, refused to testify but Iserlohn said that in statements the teenager made to authorities earler, he had identified suspect Fritz Gelowicz as the person to whom he delivered the fuses.
The boy has not been charged, and his name has not been released due to his age.
Gelowicz, 29, along with Adem Yılmaz, 30, Daniel Schneider, 23, and Attila Selek, 24, are accused of planning car bomb attacks on various sites, including the U.S. Air Force's Ramstein base.
All the suspects are accused of being members of the radical Islamic Jihad Union, an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. They face charges including membership in a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder.
730 kilograms of hydrogen peroxide replaced
The group had stockpiled 730 kilograms of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide, purchased from a chemical supplier, and could have mixed the peroxide with other substances to make explosives equivalent to 550 kilograms of dynamite, German officials have said.
But German authorities - acting partly on intelligence from the U.S. - had been watching them and covertly replaced all of the hydrogen peroxide with a diluted substitute that could not have been used to produce a bomb.
Gelowicz and Schneider, both German converts to Islam, were arrested in Germany along with Yılmaz, who is Turkish. Selek, also Turkish, was arrested in Turkey and then extradited to Germany for trial.
The trial, which opened in April in a high-security courtroom, is scheduled to last at least until the end of August.
Investigators have said Selek was in Turkey to procure the triggering devices for the bombs.
However, Iserlohn said the teenager told investigators that he could not identify who had given him the items to bring back to Germany.
He said he had been approached by someone who also spoke German and asked if he could bring back items for a friend, the federal agent testified. After he agreed, he was given a bag with the shoes and also a pair of pants.