A Turkish man and his American fiancee went on trial Friday for conspiring to bomb a U.S. military base in southwestern Germany last year. Osman Petmezci, 25, faces charges of plotting an explosion at the U.S. base in the city of Heidelberg, home to the U.S. Army’s European headquarters and a NATO facility. His 23-year-old fiancee, Astrid Eyzaguirre, who holds both U.S. and German citizenship, is accused of assisting him in the plot to attack a shopping area on the base, where she worked. The couple, arrested on Sept. 5 last year, deny they were planning an attack. If convicted by the state court in Heidelberg, they could face up to 11 years and three months in prison. During a raid on the couple’s apartment in Walldorf, south of Heidelberg, investigators found gunpowder and six pipes they believe were to be used to make a bomb, as well as other chemicals that could be used to make homemade explosives, according to prosecutors. A German-born Turk, Petmezci is believed to have acquired some of the chemicals from his job at a Heidelberg factory where he worked. Eyzaguirre worked at an on-post military store in Heidelberg, where some 16,000 American soldiers, family members and civilian workers are stationed. Full Story
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