HadassahSukkot
20th November 2006, 04:40 PM
German Police Foil terror plot against an EL AL Flight
Six suspects are under investigation by German authorities for plotting to blow up an El Al passenger flight out of the Frankfurt airport. The attack was foiled when an airport employee backed out.
According to media reports the would-be terrorists, mostly Jordanian and Palestinian Arabs, were negotiating with a worker who held security clearance at the airport, located in the state of Hesse. The airport serves as the hub for Lufthansa Airlines and is one of the busiest in Europe.
The airport employee initially agreed to load a bag containing explosives into the belly of the plane, but refused at the end due to a disagreement over how much he would be paid.
The six, in addition to other unidentified conspirators, were backed by a “so far unknown” terror organization, according to a statement issued Monday by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. [more at link]
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=115921
The six, who could face charges of belonging to or supporting a terrorist organization, were temporarily detained on Friday, but five of them were released Saturday after questioning. The remaining suspect was kept in custody over an unrelated matter.
Under German law, authorities must release suspects after a maximum of 48 hours unless they have enough evidence to convince a judge that they can be held in long-term investigative custody.
Prosecutors would not elaborate on the circumstances of the ongoing case, nor give any more details about the suspects.
They said nine apartments were searched in Hesse and the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Police agencies from both states, as well as German federal police, Frankfurt airport police and Frankfurt's city police all refused comment, referring questions to the federal prosecutors.
[more at link] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1162378442115&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
From German Sources:
German prosecutors have launched an investigation into a group that is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack on a passenger plane in Germany last summer.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe said in a statement that suspects had convinced an airport employee with security access to smuggle a suitcase full of explosives onto a passenger plane.
"During the summer, several suspects made contact with an individual who had access to the security-restricted zone of an airport," said a statement from the federal prosecutor's office.
The plan, however, fell apart when the unidentified suspects failed to reach agreement with the airport employee on the payment he was to receive. It was not clear if the helper was someone employed by the airport, an airline or a subcontractor.[more at link]
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2243811,00.html
In a similar investigation, police in the northern city of Hamburg in 2002 arrested seven suspected Islamic extremists who were believed to be plotting new terrorist attacks, only to release them several hours later.
Authorities there later said that through five months of surveillance they had not managed to come up with enough evidence to charge the men, but that they were convinced they were getting ready to act and wanted to thwart their plot.
Germany stiffened counterterrorism laws after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, when it emerged that three of the suicide pilots in that plot had lived and studied undetected in Hamburg.
The country was shaken this summer by a failed attempt to blow up two trains. Two Lebanese men have been arrested for allegedly planting bombs on the trains at Cologne station on July 31. The bombs were found later in the day, and authorities said the detonators went off but failed to ignite the crude devices.
[more at link]http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GERMANY_AIRPLANE_PLOT?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-11-20-09-54-00
Guys, this is where I'm moving.. and where I will be flying into and out of at any point in time...
Six suspects are under investigation by German authorities for plotting to blow up an El Al passenger flight out of the Frankfurt airport. The attack was foiled when an airport employee backed out.
According to media reports the would-be terrorists, mostly Jordanian and Palestinian Arabs, were negotiating with a worker who held security clearance at the airport, located in the state of Hesse. The airport serves as the hub for Lufthansa Airlines and is one of the busiest in Europe.
The airport employee initially agreed to load a bag containing explosives into the belly of the plane, but refused at the end due to a disagreement over how much he would be paid.
The six, in addition to other unidentified conspirators, were backed by a “so far unknown” terror organization, according to a statement issued Monday by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. [more at link]
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=115921
The six, who could face charges of belonging to or supporting a terrorist organization, were temporarily detained on Friday, but five of them were released Saturday after questioning. The remaining suspect was kept in custody over an unrelated matter.
Under German law, authorities must release suspects after a maximum of 48 hours unless they have enough evidence to convince a judge that they can be held in long-term investigative custody.
Prosecutors would not elaborate on the circumstances of the ongoing case, nor give any more details about the suspects.
They said nine apartments were searched in Hesse and the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Police agencies from both states, as well as German federal police, Frankfurt airport police and Frankfurt's city police all refused comment, referring questions to the federal prosecutors.
[more at link] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1162378442115&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
From German Sources:
German prosecutors have launched an investigation into a group that is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack on a passenger plane in Germany last summer.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe said in a statement that suspects had convinced an airport employee with security access to smuggle a suitcase full of explosives onto a passenger plane.
"During the summer, several suspects made contact with an individual who had access to the security-restricted zone of an airport," said a statement from the federal prosecutor's office.
The plan, however, fell apart when the unidentified suspects failed to reach agreement with the airport employee on the payment he was to receive. It was not clear if the helper was someone employed by the airport, an airline or a subcontractor.[more at link]
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2243811,00.html
In a similar investigation, police in the northern city of Hamburg in 2002 arrested seven suspected Islamic extremists who were believed to be plotting new terrorist attacks, only to release them several hours later.
Authorities there later said that through five months of surveillance they had not managed to come up with enough evidence to charge the men, but that they were convinced they were getting ready to act and wanted to thwart their plot.
Germany stiffened counterterrorism laws after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, when it emerged that three of the suicide pilots in that plot had lived and studied undetected in Hamburg.
The country was shaken this summer by a failed attempt to blow up two trains. Two Lebanese men have been arrested for allegedly planting bombs on the trains at Cologne station on July 31. The bombs were found later in the day, and authorities said the detonators went off but failed to ignite the crude devices.
[more at link]http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GERMANY_AIRPLANE_PLOT?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-11-20-09-54-00
Guys, this is where I'm moving.. and where I will be flying into and out of at any point in time...