KARLSRUHE, Germany, 24 January 2005 — German authorities arrested two men yesterday suspected of plotting an Al-Qaeda suicide attack in Iraq.
The federal prosecutor’s office identified the arrested men as Ibrahim Mohammed K., a 29-year-old Iraqi believed to be a high-ranking Al-Qaeda figure, and Yasser Abu S., a 31-year-old stateless Palestinian.
Police raided four homes in the western cities of Mainz and Bonn early yesterday. The men, both arrested in Mainz, are accused of belonging to a foreign terrorist organization. Both had been under surveillance since October.
Federal Prosecutor Kay Nehm told a news conference the Iraqi had recruited the second suspect in September 2004 as a future bomber in Iraq. He said there was no indication they planned an attack in Germany.
They planned to pretend that Yasser Abu S. had been killed in a car accident in Egypt and claim over 800,000 euros ($1.04 million) from a life insurance policy to fund the bombing and other attacks.
Nehm said the Iraqi also had sought to acquire nuclear material for use in an attack. Nehm said the suspect had been in contact with a group in Luxembourg which had nuclear material, but Nehm said it was not suitable for a bomb. Both men were due to be brought before an investigating judge today.
