Homeland Security

DATE=11/13/03

TYPE=Dateline

NUMBER=7-38048

TITLE=Germany's Search for 9-11 Terrorists

BYLINE=Sarah Williams

TELEPHONE=619-2659

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Carol Castiel

CONTENT=

DISK: DATELINE THEME [PLAYED IN STUDIO, FADED UNDER DATELINE HOST VOICE OR PROGRAMMING MATERIAL]

INTRO: Following the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11th, 2001, Hamburg, Germany emerged as the place where the hijackers spearheaded the operation. In the first of two Dateline reports, Sarah Williams looks at how Germany, its legal authorities, and its Muslim community have reacted to the investigation into the attacks that dramatically changed security considerations around the world.

HOST: Hamburg is Germany's second largest city, an industrial center that contains one of the largest ports in Europe. Yet after September 11th, 2001, it also became known for its connection to the hijackers and their al-Qaida cell. The subsequent investigation showed that some of the hijackers, including their leader Mohammed Atta, had shared an apartment in Hamburg and studied at the city's technical university.

How much was known about the group and its deadly intentions before the attacks? David Schiller, chief editor of Germany's Visier magazine and a terrorism expert, says there were indications during the late summer of 2001 that some sort of international terror operation was planned. But the specific details, including the method of attack and the identity of the participants, were unknown.

TAPE: CUT 1 Schiller

The C-I-A gave some hints to their counterparts in the German Security Service, and later on they didn't pick up on it. And the problem was basically with the German Security Service, they didn't cooperate as they should have. But that is because the whole Arabic, Islamic thing was not on their agenda, so to speak.

HOST: Mr. Schiller says intelligence officials believed al-Qaida was more likely to strike somewhere in Asia, possibly the Philippines. Manfred Murck, deputy head of Hamburg's Office for Constitutional Security, or domestic intelligence agency, says investigators immediately began probing the cell when its existence emerged in the days following the attacks. He says authorities had some information about radical Muslims on the periphery of the cell, but were unaware of the hijackers and their intentions.

TAPE: Cut 2 Murck

So, after 9-11, we and others saw that we haven't been too far from the hijackers, but we didn't identify them, with their names, and what they are doing, and we did not have any knowledge about the planning of attacks. So for us they were, as far as we did know, some people in the surrounding, they were just members of the radical Muslim, let me say, community here at Hamburg.

HOST: Frank Umbach, senior fellow at Berlin's Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations, says the Hamburg al-Qaida cell mirrors the so-called sleeper groups that existed secretly during the Cold War.

TAPE: Cut 3 Umbach

Those sleepers were based primarily at German universities, in this case primarily at Hamburg, studying for many years and specifically also in technological studies and physical, biological and other studies and so acquiring also capabilities which they could also use partly for terrorist attacks.

HOST: The members of the Hamburg al-Qaida cell came from Middle Eastern and North African countries. Atta was born in Egypt, Marwan al-Shehi was from the United Arab Emirates, and Ziad Jarrah was from Lebanon. All three piloted planes on September 11th. Another member of the group included Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni now in U-S custody, who was closely allied with al-Qaida. The exact way the hijackers met is still unclear. Recent German news reports indicate the hijackers may have become acquainted at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. Hamburg's Al Quds Mosque, where some of the hijackers worshipped, is another possible meeting place. Following the terrorist attacks, investigators learned a visiting Moroccan religious leader had preached violent anti-Western sermons at the mosque. Manfred Murck says the investigation into how the hijackers met continues.

TAPE: Cut 4 Murck

So it is possible that if not all so many of the hijackers and their supporting structure became personally acquainted at the mosque, at the Al Quds Mosque and at the university, the technical university at Hamburg. But for us the question is still open, who brought them together, following the plans of being a terrorist group.

HOST: Two Moroccan men, Mounir al-Motassadeq and Abdelghani Mzoudi, were later arrested and brought to trial in Hamburg for their possible involvement in the September 11th attacks. Motassadeq was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Mr. Mzoudi's trial continues, and is expected to last until early next year. Manfred Murck says investigators continue to pursue other possible accomplices, and that further arrests may occur.

TAPE: Cut 5 Murck

We know if we are looking on the Hamburg scene, that still many people who had close contact to Atta and others are still living at Hamburg. So what we know they had a good contact. What we don't know is whether they were involved in the plans or just members of the same scene at the same mosques.

HOST: Terrorism expert David Schiller believes German authorities continue to be naïve about the potential dangers of radical Muslim groups operating within the country.

TAPE: Cut 6 Schiller

Before 9-11, nobody took the Arab international terrorist or the Islamic international terrorist really seriously in Germany, because it didn't happen on our floor, in our homes. Now they know it can happen, they're aware of it, but what do they do since then? Nothing really much happened. I would always say that they do not understand whom they are in business with.

HOST: Mr. Schiller says Germany remains a prime location for terrorists.

TAPE: Cut 7 Schiller

Germany is a very convenient place to base your operations from. You have railroad accesses to all places in Europe, you can fly in and out of Germany pretty easily even on foreign passports. There is a lot of coming and going in Frankfurt and security is not very tight in Europe.

HOST: However, some observers believe international security cooperation has improved since September 11th. Frank Umbach, of Berlin's Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations, says the attacks have forced much needed changes.

TAPE: Cut 8 Umbach

There's much more cooperation going on between Europe, between Germany and the United States in this respect. Although there is still what I hear, there's still a lot of problems involved, it could certainly be improved, but there's much more exchange of information. And that is certainly, I think, very helpful to get a more full picture of those activities, of those dangerous groups.

HOST: The members of Germany's radical Muslim community are being closely monitored. There are slightly more than 100-thousand Muslims living in Hamburg, but Manfred Murck estimates the city's militants total about 200.

TAPE: (OPT) Cut 10 Murck

In general, the more radical Muslims try to be more careful, so that they are not exposed to the investigations of the police or of the secret services. So if they talk about the jihad they are more careful in the mosques or wherever. That means on the surface, they try to be not that radical, as they are. So that means for us we have to look under the surface. (END OPT)

HOST: As the search for possible terrorists operating within Germany continues, the country's greater Muslim community struggles with what it believes are serious misconceptions about its activities and place in society. Tomorrow, in the second part of this report, I'll speak with two of Germany's Muslim leaders about the impact the investigation has had on their communities. For Dateline, I'm Sarah Williams.

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