Federal prosecutors in New York have charged a Moroccan man with conspiring to provide weapons and other help to al-Qaeda. He was held with two other men in Germany, as being an conspirator of an alleged bomb attack being instructed upon it by the Al Qaeda.  The man named Abedeladim el-Kebir, and aged 30, was detained in April by the German authorities. He faces charges in the United States of helping to supply Islamist militants with explosives, and also of possessing a destructive device.

Reportedly, the US is seeking his extradition from Germany.  From November 2009 until his he was detained, Mr Kebir provided material support to al-Qaeda which includes training, supplying lethal substances, explosives and personnel.  He is also charged of conspiration and possessing weapons which includes a destructive device and also, apparently he was in an agreement with Al Qaeda to provide material support to them. If he is successfully convicted on these charges, he could face life imprisonment.

As claimed by the German prosecutors at that point of time, these men were ordered by a senior al-Qaeda figure on the Afghan-Pakistan border for several attacks. The three, who were under surveillance, were arrested in Dusseldorf and Bochum after buying bomb chemicals for the attack. Mr. Kebir was charged in Germany with membership of a foreign terrorist organization. Also, he was living in that country illegally since May 2010.The US intelligence informed the German authorities about  his movements after he left an al-Qaeda training camp in Waziristan. The CIA and Moroccan authorities aided the German authorities in a three-month operation to arrest the men.

Moroccan al-Qaeda suspect held in Germany

Report by Indrani Chowdury