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A Flash In The Pain
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This from Reuters, via the New York Times website, this am. The Germans are on the case!
September 13, 2001
IN GERMANY
Germans Detain Airport Worker in Attack Probe
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:02 a.m. ET
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Germany has detained an airport worker in connection with Tuesday's U.S. terror attacks and three of the suicide hijackers may have belonged to a Hamburg-based extremist group, authorities said on Thursday.
Police declined to identify the detained man and did not say what his job had been or where he worked. He was in investigative custody because he was in an apartment that was used by several suspects, they said.
The Federal Prosecution Office said it was investigating an extremist Islamic group that had been active in Hamburg since the start of the year. One suspect with Arab links was known to them but had not been detained yet.
``These people were of Arabic background and lived in Hamburg and were Islamic fundamentalists and they formed a terrorist organization with the aim of launching spectacular attacks on institutions of the United States,'' said Kay Nehm, Germany's Federal Prosecutor.
``They are being investigated on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization, murder and launching an attack on air traffic,'' he said. ``We suspect that at least since the start of this year these people lived in Hamburg.''
Nehm said no evidence had been found yet connecting the suspects with Saudi-born exile Osama bin Laden, who several western intelligence agencies believe may be behind the attacks. He is said to have denied any involvement.
LEADS FOR THE U.S.
The developments should provide important leads to U.S. authorities trying to identify the mastermind behind the hijacking of two planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington on Tuesday.
U.S. agents served warrants on homes and searched businesses in southern Florida on Wednesday. The passenger lists of the four hijacked jets included the names of at least four Florida residents suspected of being supporters of Bin Laden.
The northern port city of Hamburg is home to about 80,000 Muslims of various nationalities. Security experts say Germany is regarded as a safe haven for Islamic extremist groups.
Authorities said three of the suspected hijackers who had been on the passenger lists were members of the Hamburg-based group. Two of them and a further suspect had studied electronics at the Technical University in the city's Harburg district.
A Hamburg state police chief, Gerhard Mueller, said: ``We have in the search for a suspect of Moroccan origin searched an apartment in Hamburg and provisionally detained one person, a man.''
ON THE PASSENGER LISTS
He said it was too soon to say if the detained man would remain in custody. Mueller said the man had been living in Germany legally.
Hamburg's interior minister, Olaf Scholz, said police had searched four apartments on Wednesday night and questioned a number of people in the city after getting leads from media reports and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Scholz said Mohammed Atta, 33, whose name had been cited in media reports as a suspect and who was on the passenger list of one of the hijacked planes used in the attack, had lived in Hamburg in one of the apartments that were searched.
He was registered as being from the United Arab Emirates, as was Marwan Yusef Mohammed Al-Shehhi, 23, who Scholz said was on one of the other attack planes.
Al-Shehhi had also lived in Germany, sometimes in the same apartment as Atta, Scholz said. He left Germany for the United States on May 2.
``It is evident that they avoided doing anything that would bring them to the attention of police or the immigration authorities,'' Scholz said. He said police had interviewed a number of people but made no arrests.
Scholz said police had checked eight apartments in the city and searched four.
``In one of the apartments, the people who were registered as living there were not found, but one woman was taken from the building to the police station as a witness.''
Scholz said: ``We have gathered a lot of information that will be very useful for the further investigation of the Federal Criminal Office but of course will also be of great significance for the FBI.''
``Hopefully we have made a meaningful contribution to clearing up these dreadful attacks.
September 13, 2001
IN GERMANY
Germans Detain Airport Worker in Attack Probe
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:02 a.m. ET
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Germany has detained an airport worker in connection with Tuesday's U.S. terror attacks and three of the suicide hijackers may have belonged to a Hamburg-based extremist group, authorities said on Thursday.
Police declined to identify the detained man and did not say what his job had been or where he worked. He was in investigative custody because he was in an apartment that was used by several suspects, they said.
The Federal Prosecution Office said it was investigating an extremist Islamic group that had been active in Hamburg since the start of the year. One suspect with Arab links was known to them but had not been detained yet.
``These people were of Arabic background and lived in Hamburg and were Islamic fundamentalists and they formed a terrorist organization with the aim of launching spectacular attacks on institutions of the United States,'' said Kay Nehm, Germany's Federal Prosecutor.
``They are being investigated on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization, murder and launching an attack on air traffic,'' he said. ``We suspect that at least since the start of this year these people lived in Hamburg.''
Nehm said no evidence had been found yet connecting the suspects with Saudi-born exile Osama bin Laden, who several western intelligence agencies believe may be behind the attacks. He is said to have denied any involvement.
LEADS FOR THE U.S.
The developments should provide important leads to U.S. authorities trying to identify the mastermind behind the hijacking of two planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington on Tuesday.
U.S. agents served warrants on homes and searched businesses in southern Florida on Wednesday. The passenger lists of the four hijacked jets included the names of at least four Florida residents suspected of being supporters of Bin Laden.
The northern port city of Hamburg is home to about 80,000 Muslims of various nationalities. Security experts say Germany is regarded as a safe haven for Islamic extremist groups.
Authorities said three of the suspected hijackers who had been on the passenger lists were members of the Hamburg-based group. Two of them and a further suspect had studied electronics at the Technical University in the city's Harburg district.
A Hamburg state police chief, Gerhard Mueller, said: ``We have in the search for a suspect of Moroccan origin searched an apartment in Hamburg and provisionally detained one person, a man.''
ON THE PASSENGER LISTS
He said it was too soon to say if the detained man would remain in custody. Mueller said the man had been living in Germany legally.
Hamburg's interior minister, Olaf Scholz, said police had searched four apartments on Wednesday night and questioned a number of people in the city after getting leads from media reports and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Scholz said Mohammed Atta, 33, whose name had been cited in media reports as a suspect and who was on the passenger list of one of the hijacked planes used in the attack, had lived in Hamburg in one of the apartments that were searched.
He was registered as being from the United Arab Emirates, as was Marwan Yusef Mohammed Al-Shehhi, 23, who Scholz said was on one of the other attack planes.
Al-Shehhi had also lived in Germany, sometimes in the same apartment as Atta, Scholz said. He left Germany for the United States on May 2.
``It is evident that they avoided doing anything that would bring them to the attention of police or the immigration authorities,'' Scholz said. He said police had interviewed a number of people but made no arrests.
Scholz said police had checked eight apartments in the city and searched four.
``In one of the apartments, the people who were registered as living there were not found, but one woman was taken from the building to the police station as a witness.''
Scholz said: ``We have gathered a lot of information that will be very useful for the further investigation of the Federal Criminal Office but of course will also be of great significance for the FBI.''
``Hopefully we have made a meaningful contribution to clearing up these dreadful attacks.
