Germany- Terror Suspects Will Confess to Plot Against American

[WillieW]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=anxfXEZnxLW8


By Patrick Donahue

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Four men accused of planning attacks on American citizens in Germany will begin confessions, bringing an end to the country’s biggest terror trial since a case involving Marxist radicals three decades ago.

One of the four, identified as Fritz G., told the Higher Regional Court in Dusseldorf about his activities, court spokesman Ulrich Egger said today. The other three -- Adem Y., Daniel S. and Atilla S. -- will give statements over the coming weeks following an agreement with prosecutors. The timetable will be decided by Judge Ottmar Breitling, Egger said by phone.

“We’ll be able to conclude this trial faster,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur quoted Breitling as saying. “We have the impression that they’ve laid their cards clearly on the table.”

Prosecutors have sought to prove the four belonged to an Islamist cell that plotted what could have been the worst attack in Germany since World War II, targeting primarily American citizens. The operation could have reached the scale of the Sept. 11 attacks, prosecutors said.

The alleged plot was halted in a raid that involved 300 security officers. Police seized hydrogen peroxide-based liquid explosives with more power than those used in the Madrid bombings of March 2004 or the London bombings of July 2005.