2006 German train bombing plot

On July 31, 2006, two people placed two suitcases filled with bombs on regional trains in Germany. The bombs were supposed to go off near Hamm and Koblenz and according to German investigators, would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people. However, due to faulty construction, the bombs did not go off. [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2206487,00.html Suspects in Attempted Bombings Face Prison for Life] , Deutsche Welle, October 22, 2006]

German investigators suspected a terrorist organization was behind the plot.

uspects

Youssef Mohamad El Hajdib

Aged 21 at the time. El Hajdib was arrested at Kiel's central train station on August 19th, 2006. There are reports that he was trying to get to Denmark and that he had Odense imam Abu Bashar's telephone in his pocket. Bashar denied knowing El Hajdib. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/05/news/denmark.php 9 arrested by Denmark in reported terror plot] , International Herald Tribune, September 5, 2006]

Jihad Hamad

Aged 20 at the time. After the failed attack, Hamad fled to Lebanon and tried to hide by his family. He turned himself to Lebanese authorities in Beirut a few days after El Hajdib was arrested. His family lives in Al-Kobbe, Tripoli. In his youth Jihad went to a Christian school. Jihad came to Essen to live by his uncle, study and work.

Jihad confessed to depositing the luggage on the trains but said he was unaware it was a bomb.. He also said El Hajdib and him had researched on the internet how to prepare attacks which would cause increased suffering.

Hamad told Lebanese interrogators that El Hajdib saw the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy as an attack of the Western world on Islam. [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/02/europe/EU_GEN_Germany_Terrorism_Investigation.php Prophet drawings motivated by suspects behind failed German train bombings, investigator says] , International Herald Tribune, September 2, 2006] Further motivation was the killing of Iraqi Al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on June 7, 2006 by US forces.

Hamad and El Hajdib lived together in Cologne.

Other Suspects

*Ayman Hawa (20) - from Akkar, arrested on August 28th, 2006 by Lebanese authorities. [http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L02136965 Lebanon arrests fourth suspect in German bomb case] , Reuters, September 2, 2006]
*Khaled Khair-Eddin el-Hajdib - arrested in Lebanon
*Khalil al-Boubou - arrested in Lebanon
*Saddam el-Hajdib - brother of Youssef Mohamad El Hajdib, and a high ranking member of the Fatah Islam group, was suspected of helping plan the attack. Was killed in fighting between Fatah Islam and the Lebanese Armed Forces in Lebanon in May, 2007. [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2546292,00.html Suspect in German Bomb Plot Killed in Lebanon Fighting] , Deutsche Welle, May 22, 2007]

Bombs

The plans for the bombs were taken from the internet. The suspects diverged at a few points and it was there that technical mistakes were made.

The devices cost about 200-300 Euro to build.

The bombs were made from propane barbecue canisters to be triggered with gasoline and makeshift detonators. The detonators went off, but failed to ignite the gas. [ [http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2344196&page=2 Train Bombing Plot Surprises Germany] , ABC News]

According to German security services the attacks were originally planned for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, several weeks earlier, but the suspects abandoned the plan when they considered the implications of such an attack.

ee also

* Fatah al-Islam

Evidence

A search of the suspects' apartment found DNA matching that on the suitcases and receipts for the gas canister and gas.

Surveillance cameras caught both suspects carrying wheeled baggage onto the train at Cologne.

References