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Algerian radical spills beans on bin Laden "terror network" An Algerian Islamic radical arrested in France has proved a goldmine for investigators probing Osama bin Laden's militant network in Europe in the wake of the September 11 attacks, magistrates told AFP. French investigators now believe that after key testimonies from a handful of well placed members of bin Laden's al-Qaeda network the exiled Saudi extremist's secret organisation in Europe is unravelling fast. Since his arrest in Paris last Monday 27-year-old Yacine Aknouche has revealed his links with several al-Qaeda suspects including "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged "20th...

Radical cleric 'inspired September 11 hijacker' By Christopher Walker THE radical cleric Abu Qatada was named by the Government yesterday as the most dangerous Islamic preacher in Britain. Abu Qatada, who has been described as Osama bin Laden’s spiritual ambassador in Europe, was also “an inspiration” for terrorists, including the lead hijacker behind the September 11 attacks on the United States. The claim was contained in evidence revealed in the appeal by three foreign terrorist suspects against their detention without charge or trial under the Anti- Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. In a weighty dossier submitted to the Special...

Intelligence agencies have had some success in tracking suspected al-Qaeda operatives. But the organisation is changing to continue its fight against the West. The West has never encountered an enemy like al-Qaeda before. The problem for the world's intelligence agencies is that it is not a unified organisation with an identifiable structure, like the IRA, but an amalgam of groups around the world whose members embrace Osama bin Laden's ideology of global jihad, or holy war. These Jihadi warriors share the belief that they have an obligation to fight the oppressors of their Muslim brothers, from Palestinians in the Middle...

ARIS, May 29 — Italian and German investigators have disclosed fresh information suggesting that hints of an attack involving aircraft and the United States were more widespread among European law enforcement agencies before Sept. 11 than previously suspected.The disclosures come after weeks in which the Bush administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which announced a shake-up today, have come under sharp criticism that they did not pay sufficient heed to signs of Al Qaeda plots in the United States that may have alerted them to the Sept. 11 attacks.A Central Intelligence Agency spokesman said today that before Sept....

FRANKFURT, Germany - One of four Algerians accused of plotting to blow up a French Christmas market told a German court Monday that he had spent six months in training camps in Afghanistan, and said he met two of the other defendants in neighboring Pakistan. In nearly four hours of questioning by Judge Karlheinz Zeiher, Salim Boukari said that on his journey back to Europe, he met co-defendants Aeurobi Beandalis and Fouhad Sabour in a guest house in Pakistan that was a base for people traveling to and from the Afghan camps. The three, along with fourth defendant Lamine Maroni,...

An Algerian who sought asylum in Sheffield has been jailed for plotting to bomb tourists at a French Christmas market. Lamine Maroni has been sentenced to 11 years in Germany. Three other men were also jailed for between 10 and 12 years each. They were found guilty by a Frankfurt court of conspiracy to murder scores of people outside Strasbourg Cathedral on New Year's Eve 2000. Prosecutors said they were part of a network of mostly North African extremists called the Non-aligned Mujahadeen, with ties to al-Qaida. Maroni had arrived in Sheffield as an asylum seeker in August 2000 and...

A French judge has issued an international arrest warrant for a man of North African origin held on terrorism charges in London, according to reports. The warrant against Rabah Kadre was issued in connection with an investigation into the so-called Frankfurt group, which had planned to carry out an attack in the eastern French city of Strasbourg in December 2000, a French news agency quoted a judicial official as saying. Mr Kadre, 35, was one of three men arrested on 9 November in London and charged with offences under the Terrorism Act. There has been no confirmation that the men...

A German court has convicted four Algerian men of plotting to bomb a busy Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg, and sentenced them to prison terms of 10-12 years. The plot was foiled by German police just before it was to have taken place in late December 2000. In handing down the Frankfurt court's sentence, presiding Judge Karlheinz Zeiher said the four men had intended to kill defenseless people with the aim of spreading terror in France and throughout Europe. He said they wanted to punish France because of its support for the Algerian government. Judge Zeiher said...

Agency Warns of Terror Plot On guard: A machine gun in front of a sign pointing the way for "other visitors" at the trial on Tuesday in Frankfurt of five Algerians charged with plotting an attack in Strasbourg, France, last Christmas. The men are believed to belong to the Qaida terrorist network. (Photo: AP) By Udo Ulfkotte FRANKFURT. German law enforcement officials have launched an intensive search for three people who they suspect are part of a three-country operation to seize hundreds of hostages in an attempt to free members of the Qaida terrorist network being held in Europe, according...