Germany Arrests Two al-Qaida Suspects

German Times ^ | January 10 2003 | AP

[knighthawk]

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German authorities, acting on a U.S. request, arrested two Yemeni men Friday on suspicion they belong to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, a German security official said.

Federal and state police arrested the men at a hotel at the Frankfurt international airport, the security official said on condition of anonymity.

One of the men was identified as Mohammed Ali Hassan Sheik al Mujahed, in his mid-50s. He is supposed to have been the imam of a large mosque in the Yemeni capital, San`a, and is suspected of being responsible for al-Qaida's logistics in Yemen, the official said.

The other man, Said Mohammed Mohsen, is in his late 20s and was accompanying al Mujahed on his travels, the official said. The official said Mohsen was considered the less important of the two.

Both men were sought by the United States as influential members of the al-Qaida network, the source said.

Germany has been central to the investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks as home to several of the key plotters including three of the suicide hijackers who formed the core of an al-Qaida cell in Hamburg. Bin Laden's alleged finance chief, Mamdouh Mahum Salim, also operated in Germany and was arrested in 1998 in Munich and turned over to the United States.

The U.S. Embassy in Berlin refused to comment on the case, referring all calls to the German Interior and Justice ministries.

Justice Ministry spokeswoman Eva Schmierer said since the arrests were made at the request of the United States, she expected the two men would be quickly extradited. She would give no other information other than to confirm that two men had been arrested.

The Interior Ministry refused comment.

[knighthawk]

Europe-list

If people want on or off this list, please let me know.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[aristeides]

I wonder what these guys were doing in Frankfurt.

[chance33_98]

I would like to ax you to Donate to FreeRepublic.

[aristeides]

Der Spiegel says al Mujahed (whom it calls "al-Modschad") is a high-ranking financial official of al Qaeda: Mutmaßlicher Top-Finanzverwalter der al-Qaida festgenommen . According to the Spiegel article, by the way, both the U.S. and Yemen are seeking to have the two men handed over to their respective countries.

I wonder what a leading financial big shot of al Qaeda would be doing at Frankfurt airport. Isn't Rhein-Main Air Force Base part of the same facility? I wonder if al Qaeda wants to disrupt Air Force flights to the Iraqi theater.

[aculeus]

MORE DETAILS FROM BBC:

Friday, 10 January, 2003, 19:55 GMT

Germany arrests al-Qaeda suspects

German police have arrested two Yemenis suspected of being leading members of al-Qaeda following a request from the US.

The two men were detained at a hotel at Frankfurt airport early on Friday.

One of them was named by security sources as Mohammed Ali Hassan Sheik al Mujahed, in his fifties, who is thought to be imam of a large mosque in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

A German Government spokesman said he expected the two would be extradited to the US as quickly as possible.

For the past year, German intelligence services have been closely monitoring movements through Frankfurt airport, which is a major transport hub for travel to Europe from the Middle East and Asia.

Hamburg connection

"The US made a request for judicial help from Germany. Executive steps were taken in that sense today," a spokeswoman for the federal criminal police was quoted as saying.

The BBC's Jonathan Charles in Frankfurt says the authorities there are keen to prove that they have strengthened security measures, as several of those involved in the 11 September attacks had lived undetected in Germany.

Three out of four pilots in the group that hijacked the planes used in 11 September attacks lived in Hamburg.

A Hamburg court is currently hearing the case against a Moroccan student, Mounir El Motassadeq, accused of being a member of the network set up by Osama Bin Laden.

The trial is the first in Europe in connection with the 11 September attacks.

[Dog]

What was a top AQ logistic's guy doing in Germany?

[Dog]

Ping!

[Dog]

Thanks for the ping my friend..

[patton]

(+)

[Dog]

Look at the names in this Reuters report from an hour ago..Smash here..

Are these the same guys??

[aristeides]

Same guys. Lots of ways to spell Arabic names.

[Dog Gone]

What was a top AQ logistic's guy doing in Germany?

Germany probably has better beer than Yemen.

The interesting thing is that these guys were arrested at our request. The CIA and FBI at work.

[Dog]

He seems to have been in transit.....to where??

[Stultis]

The interesting thing is that these guys were arrested at our request. The CIA and FBI at work.

Sadly this is probably true, as the Germans seem to have little initiative on their own account. Germany may even keep these terrs in jail or extradite them; unless, of course, it turns out that they've slaughtered jews or German tourists, in which case they'll probably have to be released:

German investigated over Tunisia synagogue bombing allowed to leave the country

Then they let another one go!

Report: second suspect in Tunisian synagogue attack has left Germany

And don't forget this oldie but badie:

Germany frees key Lockerbie suspect

Of course we all still remember this one:

Germany Refuses U.S. Evidence Against Sept. 11 Suspect Without Assurance He Won't Be Executed

[Dog Gone]

He seems to have been in transit.....to where??

I'm guessing Guantanamo Bay now.

[knighthawk]

At your service!

[pepsionice]

The German cops have their hands tied. The government simply doesn't want to get involved in this type of situation. I suspect that the US has eyes into the entire reservation system of airlines and hotels...and knew these boys were coming to town. They had CIA agents likely at the airport and watched these guys throughout the entire episode. The US made a decision to call the German authorities, who really didn't like this type of situation but they know that the US will simply grab these guys if the Germans don't react...and it would be silly headlines for the Germans in the British and French papers if they didn't react. These guys were likely on a hand-shake tour with fellow terrorists and they will likely sit in a German jail for several months hoping not to be extradidated to the US. Since there are no murder charges against them....hint: no capital crimes...then Germany will release them eventually to the US and they will likely move to Virginia. They will spend at least 10 years in US prison.

[Michael81Dus]

Yemen has called for extradiction of these terrorists.
German authorities will examine both applicationsn (to show Yemen: hey you´ve a chance - in theory), but I´m sure that the two won´t be send to Yemen.