German held by US forces reveals terror plots

BERLIN: A German held by American forces in Afghanistan has revealed details of planned terror attacks in Germany and other European countries, Der Spiegel weekly reported Saturday.

The US believes that the detainee, a 36-year-old from Hamburg, is a “major source” of information on future attacks, the news magazine reported.

Germany’s foreign ministry has acknowledged that a German was being held by American forces in Afghanistan, but refused to give any more details.

According to the magazine, the detainee, identified only as Ahmad S, was part of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

German authorities have been asking to be given access to the detainee since he was picked up by American forces in Kabul in July and transferred to a US military prison at Bagram, the report said.

The detainee travelled to Peshawar in Pakistan in March 2009 before heading to the Afghan border.

He left at the same time as a dozen suspected Islamists who attended a radical mosque in Hamburg vanished from the city.

Some of them are known to have attended a terrorist training camp where they learned how to use firearms and explosives, the magazine said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2010.