The head of a terror cell in Germany returned from Afghanistan the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with fresh orders for attacks in Germany, a Jordanian suspect testified at his own trial on Thursday. But the cell leader, known by the alias Abu Ali, did not yet have specific targets, said the defendant, Shadi Abdellah, who has himself admitted to training in Afghanistan and acting as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden. “He had orders to definitely carry out attacks,” Abdellah, 26, testified on the ninth day of his trial on charges of belonging the terror cell, linked to a Palestinian group called Al Tawhid, and falsifying passports. He faces a possible 10 years in prison. Abdellah was one of nine alleged Islamic extremists detained in April 2002 on suspicion of plotting terror attacks, but the only one to be charged so far. The alleged cell leader, Mohamed Abu D., or Abu Ali, a 36-year-old Palestinian, is also in detention. Abdellah previously has said the group planned to attack Jewish targets to emulate al-Qaida, including Berlin’s Jewish Museum and a Jewish-owned discotheque in the western city of Duesseldorf, near the cell’s Essen base. Full Story
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