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Friday January 14, 2005

German terror suspect breaks silence, promises to testify

duesseldorf, germany (ap) | An Algerian on trial for his role in an alleged plot to attack Jewish targets in Germany broke nearly a year of silence in court this week and offered to provide complete testimony.

Djamel Mustafa, 31, went on trial in February 2004 along with three other Arabs accused of belonging to al-Tawhid, a radical Palestinian network. All were arrested in April 2002.

Prosecutors say the group hoped to emulate al-Qaida by attacking Berlin’s Jewish Museum or other targets and “kill scores of people” for al-Tawhid, a group believed to be headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — now a prominent terrorist figure in Iraq.

All four defendants so far have refused to testify, but Mustafa reversed his stance Jan. 12.

“I have been living in a hole for 30 months and I am suffering because of it,” he told the Duesseldorf state court. “Now I want to say what I know and set a thing or two straight.”

Mustafa insisted that he had no problem with Jews. “I prefer dealing with them than with Arabs,” he said. “You can see who got me into my current situation.”

Mustafa did not elaborate. In a

statement read at the beginning of the trial by his lawyer, he said he had nothing to do with al-Tawhid and was only a “loose acquaintance” of the other defendants.

However, he acknowledged that Shadi Abdellah, a Jordanian sentenced to four years in prison for his part in the plot after offering extensive testimony in a separate trial in 2003, had asked him to procure a gun with a silencer, ammunition and hand grenades.

Mustafa faces a possible five-year prison sentence on charges of supporting a terrorist organization, breaking firearms laws and document fraud.

His co-defendants — the German al-Tawhid cell’s alleged leader, Mohamed Abu Dhess; Ashraf al-Dagma and Ismail Shalabi — all face a possible 10 years in prison for membership in a terrorist organization, attempted instigation of weapons offenses and document fraud.

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