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German prosecutors demand 5 years for suspect
German prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a five-year jail term for a Jordanian man suspected of plotting attacks on Jewish targets, saying that only his arrest had prevented them being carried out. In summing up, federal prosecutor Dirk Fernholz said he had asked for half the maximum sentence of 10 years because the accused had provided âan abundance of detailâ about Al-Tawhid group and its operations.
| Boy, I'd like to read that report... |
Shadi Mohammad Mustafa Abdullah stands accused of belonging to Al-Tawhid and plotting attacks on two Jewish restaurants in the city of Duesseldorf and a Jewish community centre in Berlin. He is also charged with passport forgery.
German and US intelligence experts say there have been close links between it and Al Qaeda network.
During his trial, Abdullah has said that he planned the attacks in Germany and served for a time as Bin Laden's bodyguard. Doubts have been cast on whether his testimony could be believed. But the prosecution said his evidence had been âfor the most part reliable.â Fernholz said the suspect's plans would have had terrible consequences. âThe planning had certainly reached more than the preliminary stage,â he said. Abdullah's task in the operation had been to âfind appropriate targets and procure weapons,â said public prosecutor Christian Monka in his summary.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-11-20 |
