Posted on 12/12/2002 1:05:39 PM PST by knighthawk
BERLIN - A German man who was being investigated in connection with a deadly attack on a Tunisian synagogue in April has been allowed to leave the country because there was insufficient evidence to arrest him, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Germany's chief federal prosecutor, Kay Nehm, has said that according to testimony from another terror suspect, the man, identified only as Christian G., had access to the innermost circle of al-Qaida leaders and may have been responsible for recruiting members in Germany.
Christian G. was placed under investigation for suspected membership in a terrorist organization after he was traced as the recipient of an intercepted phone call from Nizar Naouar, the leading suspect in the attack on the synagogue in Djerba who is believed to have died in the suicide mission.
The attack left 19 dead, 14 of them German tourists, and Christian G. was briefly detained for questioning in the city of Duisburg.
However, Nehm's office said Wednesday that he left Germany last month with his family.
"Since the suspicion was not sufficiently strong for an arrest warrant to be issued, the justice authorities did not have the possibility to prevent the suspect leaving the country," a statement from prosecutors said.
Prosecutor's office spokeswoman Frauke Scheuten said authorities are aware where Christian G. flew, but would not say where it was, how many family members traveled with him, whether he remained there, nor whether the country of arrival had been alerted.
According to German state television, G. left Nov. 13 for Saudi Arabia via Amsterdam.
Christian G., a Polish-born German citizen, has reportedly told prosecutors he made several trips to Afghanistan and detailed his activities there.
Prosecutors have said that information was confirmed by Shadi Abdellah, a Jordanian accused of belonging to an Islamic extremist group, Al Tawhid, who was in Afghanistan at the same time as Christian G. Abdellah was arrested in April on suspicion of plotting attacks on U.S., British and Israeli targets in Germany.
Abdellah testified last month to briefly being Osama bin Laden's bodyguard while training in Afghan camps between early 2000 until May 2001. His testimony came at the trial of Mounir el Motassadeq, a Moroccan accused of providing logistical support for the Hamburg cell and the first Sept. 11 suspect to stand trial.
Prosecutors have not specified what contact Christian G. may have had with al-Qaida leaders, and have not said that there were any links between him and the Hamburg cell.
German authorities encountered similar problems in the case of Syrian-born Mohammed Haydar Zammar, who is believed to have been closely connected to the Hamburg al-Qaida cell that included lead Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta.
After the attacks, German authorities questioned Zammar but let him go for lack of evidence. He then left the country for Morocco, where he was picked up and deported to Syria. Zammar is now in Syrian custody being questioned and has reportedly admitted to recruiting Atta.
Following the Sept. 11 attacks, Germany introduced a law making it illegal to support a foreign terrorist organization, but the legislation does not apply retroactively.
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Note to self: Gotta stop reading The New York Times!
Report: second suspect in Tunisian synagogue attack has left Germany
Gee, I thought the attack was on a mosque
Note to self: Gotta stop reading The New York Times!
Let's just pop that here into the frecord before it scrolls off the web. From the 9 December edition:
Corrections
Because of an editing error, an article yesterday about heightened alarms over terrorism in Europe misstated the location of a bombing in Tunisia last spring that killed 21 people, including 14 German tourists. It was at a synagogue, not a mosque.
A classic don't know whether to laugh or cry item.
Terror Suspect's Departure From Germany Raises Concern in Other Nations
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