Alleged terrorist researched German nuclear plant

RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) reported on Thursday that documents discovered in alleged Paris terrorist attacker Salah Abdeslam's Brussels apartment suggest he was gathering information about a nuclear facility in Germany.

The only surviving alleged perpetrator of the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, Abdeslam reportedly possessed printed internet articles pertaining to Jülich Research Center, a facility in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia that stores nuclear material. RND, which provides content to 30 daily German newspapers, further reported that a photo of the center's CEO, Wolfgang Marquardt, was also discovered in Abdeslam's apartment.

RND reported that Hans-Georg Maassen, the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Consitution (BfV) informed members of the Parliamentary Control Panel at the end of March about the alleged find.

A spokesperson for the BfV, which is Germany's domestic intelligence agency, denied the meeting between Maassen and lawmakers took place.

"This is not right," a BfV spokeswoman said."We have no information about this. Our president Maassen never talked to any members of parliament."

The public revelation of the discovery comes amid renewed concerns over the possibility of members of the so-called "Islamic State" terrorist organization obtaining access to nuclear weapons. Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama spoke at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, where he called on world leaders to ensure nuclear security in the face of a growing international terrorist threat.

blc/kl (Reuters, AFP)