Germany arrests alleged al-Qaeda cell member

Dec 8, 2011, 14:09 GMT

Berlin - Heavily armed German police Thursday arrested a German Islamist who is alleged to have kept an al-Qaeda cell operating after its three main operatives had been caught, federal prosecutors said in Karlsruhe.

Halli S, aged 27, had raised funds for terrorist activities through bogus online sales on eBay in November, the web auction site, they said. He was arrested in the western city of Bochum.

S, whose name was withheld under media privacy guidelines, was a member of a group that police called the Dusseldorf Cell.

Its alleged chief, Abdeladim El-K, and two others were arrested in April. Police said two of them tried to construct a detonator with a view to bombing targets in Germany. El-K had been sent to Germany by an al-Qaeda chief in Afghanistan to carry out terrorist strikes.

The announcement said S had had the task of raising funds for the cell. Police searched for evidence at 16 homes and two offices, including the homes of five suspects associated with him.

S was suspected of being a member of a foreign terrorist group, plotting terrorist attacks, forgery, organized fraud and data crime.