Suspected extremist
September 2, 2010A German citizen suspected of belonging to a terrorist cell has been detained by US Forces in Afghanistan.
"The government is trying to offer consular assistance through the US," said a spokesman for the foreign ministry.
The spokesperson did not confirm details of the report in the German daily Die Tageszeitung (Taz), which claimed the man was part of a Hamburg-based group that reunited in March 2009 to train at a camp on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
Terrorist meeting point
In August, German authorities shut down a central Hamburg mosque it said the cell had used as a meeting point.
The Taiba Mosque in Hamburg's St. Georg neighborhood was thrust into the international spotlight under its former name, Al Quds, when it became known that the September 11 suicide pilot Mohammed Atta had used his contacts there to forge a terrorist cell.
Author: Sarah Harman (AP/AFP)
Editor: Nancy Isenson