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KARLSRUHE - The German chief federal prosecutor's
description of events suurrounded what appears to
have been an attempt to assassinate Iraq's interim
prime minister, Iyad Allawi,was unusually detailed.
Point by point Kay Nehm made it clear just how
advanced plans were to carry out an attack on Allawi
during his visit to Germany late last week.
His report shows that the plans allegedly hatched by
three Iraqis arrested in Germany on Friday were so
rushed they probably would have had difficulty
carrying them out.
However, it also reveals the suspects to be more
than fringe figures, with the plot leader said to
have close
links with the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group in
Iraq.
The chronicle of the foiled plot begins on 3
December 2003 when police in Munich arrested a
30-year-old Iraqi Kurd identified as Lokman M., an
alleged Ansar al-Islam member.
German prosecutors believe he was responsible for
raising funds and equipment for Iraqis fighting
against US troops in Iraq as well as smuggling
fighters into Iraq. As a result, investigators step
up their monitoring of Ansar al-Islam activists.
On 18 October, investigators discover a message on
the internet calling for the murder of Allawi.
On Sunday 28 November - four days before Allawi's
arrival in Germany - police tape a suspicious
telephone call. A 30-year-old Iraqi living in
Berlin, Rafik Y., informs a fellow Iraqi in
Augsburg, Mazen H., about the forthcoming Allawi
visit. Investigators hear that contact is to be made
with Ata R., a 31- year-old Iraqi living in
Stuttgart.
Ata R., according to prosecutors, is an important
figure within Ansar al-Islam. He is responsible for
the collection of donations for activists in Iraq
and has close contacts with the group's leadership
in the country.
On Monday 29 November, Ata R. and Mazen H. converse
by telephone in coded language about how to gather
information about the Allawi visit and procure
weapons. State police have the call taped.
On Thursday 2 December, the day before Allawi's
arrival in Berlin, the telephone calls become more
frantic. Rafik Y. gets the go-ahead for the attack
from Ata R. and Mazen H., but time is short.
The same evening, according to investigators, he
plans an attack at a meeting originally planned
between Allawi and exiled Iraqis. The method of
attack is not known. But the meeting is called off
for security reasons.
Then investigators hear of a second plan: Friday
morning December 6 at a meeting Allawi is scheduled
to have at Deutsche Bank in Berlin.
Federal prosecutors, federal police and state police
in Baden- Wuerttemberg and Bavaria are in close
contact. On the evening of December 5, Rafik Y. is
observed reconnoitring the streets around Deutsche
Bank. He informs Mazen H. that he has "viewed the
building site".
At the same time federal police department chief
Joerg Ziercke is at a law conference in the Black
Forest town of Triberg, chatting with journalists
over dinner about the federal police's
responsibilities in preventing terrorist attacks. A
tense Ziercke is unable to enjoy the regional
cuisine amid repeated calls on his mobile phone.
At 3 a.m. on Friday 6 December, special operations
police storm nine apartments in Berlin, Stuttgart
and Augsburg. Ata R., Rafik Y. and Mazen H. are
arrested.
The three men are being held on remand on suspicion
of being members of a terrorist organisation.
"We are convinced we have prevented an attack on the
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi," Nehm said
Tuesday.
DPA
http://www.expatica.com
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