Terrorism suspect tells German court he'll confess (1st Lead)

Jun 9, 2009, 12:28 GMT

Dusseldorf, Germany - One of four Islamists on trial in Germany for plotting to car-bomb US military bases told the court Tuesday he would confess so as to save time in what is expected to be a lengthy trial.

Adem Yilmaz, 29, who is a Turkish national raised in Germany, claimed he was not primarily seeking a reduced sentence.

'I couldn't care less how long you give me, whether it's 20 or 30 years. I just want to get what we're doing here over and done with. It's boring,' he told the court, before leaving for a meeting with his fellow accused.

The court granted his request for a meeting without defence lawyers present, and with only police present to guard the men.

'There's no sense in sitting here saying nothing, then getting the full whammy,' added Yilmaz, claiming one of the two young Germans on trial with him, Daniel Schneider, and an ethnic Turkish accused, Attila Selek, shared his view.

Fritz Gelowicz, the other German convert to Islam on trial in the case, allegedly led Yilmaz and Schneider in buying chemicals and planning for huge explosions at bases in Germany. They were arrested in 2007 before they could carry out any attack.

Yilmaz, one of the three alleged main plotters, also criticized his court-appointed lawyer who has focussed her case on shaking police evidence and trying to reduce his seeming guilt, saying she was not following his instructions.

Selek's attorney said he might also offer a confession 'very soon.' Prosecutor Volker Brinkmann warned that if they did not confess soon there would be no option to reduce the sentences.

Yilmaz has jeered at the trial from its start seven weeks ago, often interjecting or refusing to stand up in respect when judges enter the room.

German police arrested the main trio in September 2007 after months of surveillance allegedly showed a plot to blow up US bases on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a shadowy group said to be as dangerous as al-Qaeda. Selek was caught in Turkey.

All four defendants have so far refused to talk to police or to answer questions by presiding judge Ottmar Breidling.