Islamist: Bomb bid was a hoax
2008-01-18 20:30
Dusseldorf - One of two Islamists alleged to have planted bombs on German trains claimed he deliberately altered the wiring so the devices would not explode, a terrorism trial was told on Friday.
Jihad Hammad, 22, has already been jailed for 12 years by a Lebanese court. Co-conspirator Youssef al-Hajj Dib, 23, is currently on trial in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The Beirut verdict, translated into German, was read on Friday into the court record.
It quoted Hammad as retracting an earlier confession and insisting he had changed his mind at the last minute in July 2006 and deliberately disarmed both suitcase bombs by reversing the wires on the detonators.
The two students went to Cologne station together, boarded regional trains leaving in opposite directions, and planted the time bombs, which would have killed many people, just like similar bombs in Madrid and London.
Police say that both detonators did go off, but the gas mix in the propane canisters was too wet to ignite.
In Hammad's original confession in the presence of German detectives in Beirut, he said he had meant to kill as many people as possible and had no idea why the bombs did not explode.
He later alleged he was forced to say this by the Germans. The detectives categorically deny forcing him.
Hammad also alleged that al-Hajj Dib dreamed up the plot and led it.
Al-Hajj Dib's attorney told the trial on Friday his client would testify "in two to three weeks from now".
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA