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TERRORISM

German-Pakistani man charged with aiding al Qaida

Germany's Federal Prosecutor's office said on Thursday it had filed charges against an alleged member of Islamist terror organization al Qaida.

German-Pakistani man charged with aiding al Qaida
The Pakistani-Afghani border is notoriously porous. Photo: DPA

Aleem N., a German citizen with Pakistani background will stand trial in the Koblenz higher regional court for allegedly belonging to a foreign terrorist organization and several offences against the Foreign Trade and Payments Law.

The 46-year-old was accused in August of seeking money for al Qaida and arranging for potential fighters to go to Pakistan. He was arrested on February 14, 2008 and has since been in police custody.

Aleem N., who travelled regularly to Pakistan, has allegedly taken part in al Qaida activities since summer of 2004, a statement from the Federal Prosecutor’s office said. His task was raising money and finding fighters for the organization. Officials believe he travelled to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border at least four times between April 2005 and June 2007, bringing some €15,000 and supplies to the terrorist organization.

He was in possession of numerous recruitment videos containing propaganda and documentation of executions and attacks, the statement said. He has also admitted to injuring his right arm during explosives training on his fourth visit to the region.

Authorities believe he recruited a fighter in summer 2004, though the person did not end up in Pakistan or Afghanistan. He successfully sent a resident of Germany to an al Qaida terrorist camp in the border region in 2006. In 2007, another two people reached a terrorist explosives camp in the region due to his efforts, according to prosecutors.