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Germany - Terrorists Confesse in Bomb Plot Against American Citizens

Published on:   Jun 18, 2009 at 02:05 PM
News Source: AP
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 Sauerland group defendants Schneider and Yilmaz sit in high-security court in Duesseldorf
Sauerland group defendants Schneider and Yilmaz sit in high-security court in Duesseldorf
Duesseldorf, Germany - Lawyers say four men accused of belonging to a radical Islamic terror cell that plotted to attack U.S. targets in Germany have begun confessing to some of the charges against them.

The suspects were being questioned Thursday by members of Germany's domestic intelligence service, their lawyers confirmed.

"My client has given a wide-reaching testimony," said Dirk Uden, who is representing Fritz Gelowicz, the alleged ringleader of the group that is accused of planning bombings for the fall of 2007.

A lawyer for co-defendant Adem Yilmaz said he has been undergoing questioning since Tuesday, his lawyer said.

"The testimony is very detailed," Yilmaz's attorney Ricarda Lang said.

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Gelowicz and Yilmaz, both 29, and co-defendants Daniel Martin Schneider, 22, and Attila Selek, 23, are being questioned separately. The four are suspected of operating as a German cell of the radical Islamic Jihad Union - a group the U.S. State Department says was responsible for coordinated bombings outside the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Uzbekistan in July 2004.

The Duesseldorf court said it had pushed back the next court date for the trial from Tuesday to Wednesday in order to have time to evaluate the testimonies.

Prosecutors allege that they were plotting bombing attacks in Germany against American citizens and facilities across the country.

Gelowicz, Schneider - both German converts to Islam - and Yilmaz, a Turkish citizen living in Germany, all were arrested on Sept. 4, 2007. They have been held in custody ever since. Selek, also a Turkish citizen, was arrested a month later in Turkey.

They face charges of membership in a terrorist organization, preparing bombing attacks and conspiracy to commit murder and a bombing attack - which together carry a 10-year maximum sentence.

Schneider faces an additional charge of attempted murder, which carries a possible life sentence, because he is alleged to have fired a police officer's gun in a tussle during his arrest. No one was injured.


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