DUESSELDORF - A Jordanian man who claimed he was a bodyguard for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden went on trial Tuesday accused of plotting terror attacks in Germany. Prosecutors say Shadi Mohd Mustafa Abdellah, who is of Palestinian origin, is a member of Al-Tawhid, a group described as supporting al-Qaeda's campaign against the United States and its allies. Al-Tawhid's operational leader was Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, an alleged senior al-Qaeda figure, according to the prosecutors.
| Zarqawi runs al-Tawhid, which is an element of Ansar al-Islam, with both of them wholly owned subsidiaries of al-Qaeda... |
Abdellah, who has been in custody since last year, promised at the start of his trial in the western city of Duesseldorf to make a full statement.
| Something along the lines of "I hate you all and hope you die," no doubt... |
The 26-year-old testified at the trial of Mounir El Motassadeq, a Moroccan convicted by a German court earlier this year of accessory to murder over the deadly September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Abdellah told the Motassadeq trial in evidence that he had spent a total of one and a half years in Afghanistan until May 2001. After 20 days in a training camp, he worked briefly as a bodyguard for the al-Qaeda leader. "They gave me the task of watching over bin Laden," he told the Motassadeq hearing. "I was supposed to stand behind bin Laden because I'm very tall."
| That's a good criterion for picking members of the Liebstandart... |
Motassadeq was later jailed for the maximum 15 years. At the Duesseldorf trial, federal prosecutor Dirk Fernholz accused Abdellah of being part of an Al-Tawhid group that had plotted to attack Jewish and Israeli targets in Germany. Members initially focused on collecting money and smuggling activists, but gradually, under Zarqawi's urging, they developed plans for a gun attack on a populated square in a German city. In another city they were plotting to throw hand grenades near a Jewish or Israeli target. The aim was "to kill as many people as possible," Fernholz argued.
| That's why they call 'em terrorists... |
Prosecutors had already said before the trial that Abdellah's main job was to identify targets and procure weapons. He is said to have ordered a gun and crate of hand grenades from a contact in Duesseldorf, and was arrested before they were delivered, along with three other alleged accomplices. Abdellah, whose lawyer said the accused now distanced himself from his past, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the twin charges of membership of a terrorist group and passport forgery.
| Oh, c'mon. Everybody does that... |
The trial started under what presiding judge Ottmar Breidling described as "the highest security level". According to media reports, Abdellah has given a wealth of information to investigators about Islamists in Germany. |