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Terror suspect tells court extremists 'ecstatic' over Sept. 11
A Jordanian terrorist suspect told a German court Thursday that he and other Islamic extremists throughout the country were initially âeuphoricâ upon learning of the Sept. 11 attacks. âWe were so pleased. Messages of congratulations were traded back and forth,â Shadi Mohammad Mustafa Abdullah, a 26-year-old Jordanian of Palestinian origin, told a court hearing his case in the western German city of Duesseldorf. Abdullah said the âeuphoric moodâ quickly clouded when religious scholars in Mecca condemned the attacks as âwar crimes,â leading him to doubt whether the assault was justified. âThe attackers were longing for a life in paradise but then the scholars said they were in hell, not in paradise,â he explained.
| Hmmm... Who's right? Choose quick, now... |
Abdullah stands accused of plotting attacks in Germany against Jewish and Israeli targets, all of which were foiled. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of membership of a terrorist organisation and passport forgery. At an earlier trial hearing, Abdullah acknowledged training with Al Qaeda in camps in Afghanistan and working briefly as a bodyguard to Bin Laden before switching allegiances and joining the Palestinian Tawhid organisation. The head of the Tawhid cell, to which Abdullah allegedly belonged, continued to praise the Sept. 11 attacks as âheroicâ even after Mecca scholars condemned them, he said.
"Whadda them scholars know? Buncha pantywaists, anyway!"
"But... But... They said them guys is roastin' in hell for eternity!" |
On Thursday, Abdullah described the âsystematic brainwashingâ of young Muslims in Al Qaeda training camps, where they were shown countless videotapes showing âatrocitiesâ against Palestinians and Muslims in Indonesia. When I got back from Afghanistan, I was full of hate. I was convinced of the need for jihad until my arrest.â
| "But then my conviction waned, so can I go home now?" |
He told the court in early July that Al Qaeda members were at large in several German cities but said he did not know much about their activities. Abdullah admitted Wednesday that he had forged dozens of passports for Islamic militants and embezzled thousands of euros for Tawhid.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-07-18 |
