German trial begins for 4 accused in terror plot

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Four men charged over a foiled plot to attack American and other targets in Germany were motivated by hatred of the U.S. and aspired to emulate the scale of Sept. 11, prosecutors said as their trial opened Wednesday.

The suspects — two Germans and two Turkish nationals — were all arrested in 2007. They face charges including membership in a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder.

"The defendants were driven by the will to destroy the enemies of Islam — particularly U.S. citizens — in Germany and to reach the scale of the Sept. 11 attacks," prosecutor Volker Brinkmann said as he presented the charges at the Duesseldorf state court.

The four were moved by "profound hatred of the U.S.A. as the greatest enemy of Islam," said another prosecutor, Ralf Setton, adding that German victims also would have been "welcome" to them. He said they aimed to kill "as many people as possible."



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