Germany Jails 4 Terrorists, Osama's Bodyguard In Witness Protection

It sure seems that the Germans are not taking the Islamic extremist threat as seriously as they should. Four of Zarqawi's followers were sentenced to moderate jail terms for planning attacks against Jewish sites in Germany.

The prosecution described the men, two Jordanians, a Palestinian and an Algerian, as the "most important members" of the German cell of the Islamic group Al-Tawhid, headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is wanted by the US as the leading militant behind the insurgency in Iraq.

The two Jordanians and the Palestinian were convicted of belonging to a terrorist organization and given sentences of between six and eight years. The fourth defendant, was found guilty of supporting the terrorist group and handed a five-year jail term.

They were detained in April 2002 following a phone-tapping operation and were accused of planning to detonate a bomb near the headquarters of the Jewish community in Berlin and of plotting hand grenade attacks against Dusseldorf restaurants which are owned and patronized by Jews.

The key witness in the convictions was Jordanian Shadi Abdallah who was arrested along with the four and granted immunity for his testimony.

Abdallah claims to have been Osama bin Laden's bodyguard, and has confessed to having been instrumental in plotting targets for attack in Germany. In his testimony, he said the terror cell had attempted to get hold of hand grenades and a pistol with a silencer in order to carry out the attacks.

The defense dubbed Abdallah a "notorious liar," but the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office rewarded him for agreeing to testify against his former associates by releasing him from jail after less than a year. He is now living in Germany under a witness protection scheme.

Consequently, an admitted terrorist is in the German witness protection program. I think this action is dangerous.

Companion post at In The Bullpen.