Radical Islam
March 18, 2009
Omid S., a German of Afghan background, and Huseyin O., a Turk, were charged Wednesday, March 18, for allegedly supporting the radical Islamic Jihad Union, an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
The men are allegedly tied to a third man, Adam Yilmaz, who was arrested over a plot to blow up US targets. Their plans for attacking US targets in Germany were reportedly foiled by authorities.
The men were arrested in September. Omid S. was charged with membership in a foreign terrorist organization, while Huseyin O. was charged with supporting a foreign terrorist organization. The two 27 year-olds face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Planned chemical attacks
Yilmaz and the others were arrested in September 2007 for allegedly planning to use chemicals to attack installations such as US military bases in Germany and sites popular with US citizens.
Omid S. told Yilmaz in December 2006 that he was ready to "promote the aims" of the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Jihad Union and was trained in the Afghan-Pakistan border region, prosecutors said in a statement.
He also procured equipment for the IJU, including night-vision goggles and a GPS device, that he sent to a member of the group in Iran.
Huseyin O. is also accused of obtaining equipment for the IJU and was arrested on the Pakistan-Iran border on the way to a training camp in 2007 and extradited to Turkey.