4 in German Terror Plot to Confess

4 in German Terror Plot to Confess

DUESSELDORF, Germany - Four men accused of belonging to a radical Islamic terror cell that plotted to attack U.S. targets in Germany have announced during their trial that they are prepared to confess to some or all of the charges against them.


Adem Yilmaz, an alleged member of the group, was the first to announce during the 15th day of the trial Tuesday that he wanted to confer with his three co-defendants and then offer a confession. Yilmaz said through his defense attorney, Ricarda Lang, that he wanted to "explain comprehensively." Lang said the lengthy trial had influenced his change of mind: "He's bored."

Judge Ottmar Breidling allowed a recess, while the defendants conferred under the watch of federal police.

Fritz Gelowicz, the alleged ringleader of the group that allegedly was planning bombings for the fall of 2007, said he also wanted to confess and would then submit to questioning. "There will be surprises," said his defense attorney, Dirk Uden.

But it could be two weeks before such confessions are given, since the trial is not set to resume until June 23.

Gelowicz, 29, and co-defendant Daniel Martin Schneider, 22, are German converts to Islam. They and Yilmaz, 29, a Turk living in Germany, and Attila Selek, a 23-year-old German national, are suspected of operating as a German cell of the radical Islamic Jihad Union - a group the U.S. State Department says was responsible for coordinated bombings outside the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Uzbekistan in July 2004.

Prosecutors allege that they were plotting bombing attacks in Germany against American citizens and facilities.

Prosecutors said the group was considering attacks in many cities, including Frankfurt, Dortmund, Duesseldorf, Cologne, Stuttgart, Munich and Ramstein - home of a large U.S. Air Force base - which were to be carried out before Germany's parliament voted in October 2007 to extend the country's commitment of troops to Afghanistan.

Gelowicz, Schneider and Yilmaz all were arrested in Germany on Sept. 4, 2007, and have been held in custody ever since. Selek was arrested a month later in Turkey. They face charges of membership in a terrorist organization, preparing bombing attacks and conspiracy to commit murder and a bombing attack - which together carry a 10-year maximum sentence.

Schneider faces an additional charge of attempted murder, which carries a possible life sentence, because he is alleged to have fired a police officer's gun in a tussle during his arrest. No one was injured.