Germany terror trial

Islamists accused of plotting attacks on Americans in Germany

Article published on the 2009-04-22 Latest update 2009-04-22 14:03 TU

The defendants appear in the high-security court in Dusseldorf
(Photo: Reuters)

Four alleged Islamists went on trial in western Germany on Wednesday, accused of plotting attacks on US citizens in several German cities.

The trial in Dusseldorf is is one of the biggest terror cases in Germany in decades, according to the authorities.

Three Germans and a Turkish national face charges of belonging to a terrorist group and conspiring to mount an explosives attack.

The group is called the "Sauerland terror cell", after a region east of Dusseldorf where authorities captured the suspects in September 2007.

They say that the group had hidden 26 detonators and 12 drums of hydrogen peroxide. Police say they caught three of the suspects red-handed, mixing chemicals to make the equivalent of 410 kilogrammes of explosives, 100 times the amount used in the 2005 London Transport bombings which killed more than 50 people.

A fourth suspect was extradited from Turkey to Germany last November.

The Dussel=dorf prosecutor says their aim was a deadly bombing "of unimaginable size", whicht would not only target US military personnel in Germany but also punish Germany for sending troops to Afghanistan.

Prosecutors say the four are members of the Islamic Jihad Union, a militant Islamic extremist group with roots in Uzbekistan and ties to Al-Qaeda.

They claim that the movement set up training camps along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.