Germany Releases Iraqi Suspected of Belonging to Islamic Terror Cell

BERLIN – A German court Tuesday ordered the release of an Iraqi man suspected of belonging to an Islamic terrorist cell planning attacks in Germany.

Thaer M., 28, was released after the Federal Court of Justice lifted an arrest warrant, attorney Andreas Schwarzer said in a statement. He did not provide further details.

The court confirmed the warrant was lifted.

Four of the 13 other men detained at the same time were freed shortly after being picked up for lack of evidence.

Federal prosecutors were not immediately available for comment. It was unclear whether any other suspects were released Tuesday.

When the men were arrested in April, federal prosecutors said they belonged to a German cell of a radical Palestinian group called Al Tawhid and were providing false travel documents, collecting donations and helping smuggle Islamic fighters from Afghanistan to Germany.

The men include Jordanian, Egyptian and Iraqi nationals as well as Palestinians. They were believed to be plotting attacks within Germany on American, British and Israeli targets.

German police and elite anti-terrorist commandos nabbed the suspects because some of them were about to leave Germany, authorities said then.

Authorities identified the spiritual leader of the group as Abu Qutadah, a Britain-based Muslim cleric suspected of links to Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terror network.

Abu Qutadah, a Jordanian of Palestinian descent, was convicted in absentia in 2000 by a Jordan military court on charges of conspiring to attack U.S. and Israeli targets.

He disappeared from London in February.