Bomb suspect worked at airport

2007-09-15 17:10

Berlin - One of three men arrested in Germany on suspicion of plotting major bomb attacks worked at Frankfurt airport, one of the alleged targets, according to the weekly Der Spiegel.

The report to be published on Monday said Adem Y, a Turk, had been employed from 1997 to 2002 by German railways, working in particular in the department handling freight at Frankfurt airport station.

The three arrested on September 5, who also included two Germans converted to Islam, were suspected of planning "massive" attacks on facilities used by Americans, among them Frankfurt airport and the US military airbase at Ramstein.

Federal prosecutor Monika Harms said they were members of the Islamic Jihad Union, a little-known group from Uzbekistan with links to al-Qaeda.

The Sunni Muslim group said the aim of the planned attacks had been to put pressure on Germany to withdraw its soldiers stationed at the Termez base in southern Uzbekistan, according to the German interior ministry.

Germany uses the Termez base for its military operations in Afghanistan, where it has about 3 000 troops serving in the Nato-led force.

The Islamic Jihad Union has been blamed for several suicide bombings which rocked Tashkent in 2004, including attacks on the US and Israeli embassies.

Der Spiegel said a total of 10 people were in the sights of German investigators, including one in Turkey, named as Attila S., and Nasmedin Zhalolov, an alleged high-ranking official in the Islamic Jihad Union said to be in Pakistan.

- SAPA