Germany: Pair Not Tied to al-Qaida

07/09/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Explosives, Chemicals, Pipe Bombs and a Photo of Bin Laden Found in Apartment||Couple 'Very Friendly' with Acquaintances But Male Companion Openly Hostile to Jews||Female Companion Warns a Friend to Stay away From U.S. Base Shopping Centre|| STORY: A Turkish man and his American fiancee arrested for plotting to bomb U.S. military bases in Germany on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks appear to have no link to the al-Qaida terror organization, authorities said Saturday.

The pair were arrested on Thursday by German police who were tipped off by U.S. authorities. Hundreds of pounds of bomb making chemicals, five pipe bombs and a picture of Osama bin Laden were found in the couple's apartment near Heidelberg, officials said.

But German Interior Minister Otto Schily said there was still no evidence they had been recruited by the network.

However, federal investigators said they were reviewing the evidence and could take over from local authorities if a link to a terror network were discovered.

German television ZDF reported that investigators were looking into possible links between the male suspect and an Islamic center in Heidelberg that was previously under investigation for allegedly helping finance the 1998 bombings of two U.S. Embassies in Africa.

Tipped by U.S. authorities, German police arrested Oman Petmezci, 24, and his American fiancee, identified as Astrid Eyzaguirre, 23, on Thursday in the apartment they shared in Walldorf, about six miles south of Heidelberg, home to the U.S. Army Europe headquarters in southwestern Germany.

According to German television ARD, U.S. security officials were questioning Eyzaguirre. A spokesman for the U.S. Army declined to comment on the report.

The German weekly Der Spiegel reported Saturday that a friend of Eyzaguirre's told U.S. military police the arrested woman had warned her to stay away from the military shopping area for the next few days.

Eyzaguirre worked at a base store and had access to many facilities at Campbell Barracks, which besides the Army headquarters also contains the Army's 5th Corps headquarters and a NATO facility. Petmezci worked at a chemical warehouse in Karlsruhe, state investigators said.

Neighbors in Walldorf, a town of 14,000 that houses a large American military community, described the pair as "pretty friendly." But one man recalled that Petmezci openly discussed his hatred of Jews.

U.S. counterterrorism officials in Washington said Friday they detected a mild increase in the terrorist "chatter" in the run-up to Sept. 11, but don't believe it is a sign of a major impending attack.

The "chatter" - intelligence from various sources that monitor suspected terrorists' communications - fluctuates often and was far greater around the July 4 holiday, one official said.

While officials are concerned al-Qaida may try an attack on the anniversary of Sept. 11, they note the group has never marked anniversaries or holidays, unlike other terrorist organizations.

Federal law enforcement officials have issued no major terror alerts to local police in recent days, according to a Justice Department official.

PHOTO CAPTION

Two U.S. army soldiers stand guard behind an American and a German flag at the main gate of the Campbell Barracks, U.S. Army's Europe headquarters, in Heidelberg, southwestern Germany, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2002. The flags and flowers were placed in remembrance of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. On Thursday German police at the nearby town of Walldorf arrested a Turkish man and his American fiancee for allegedly plotting to attack U.S. military bases on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Rumpenhorst)