Swiss Find Terror Detainee-Al Qaeda Links

GENEVA – Swiss investigators have established a link between at least three Arabs detained in a nationwide anti-terror sweep and a purported key Al Qaeda (search) member, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Geneva daily Le Temps said it obtained a copy of a document written by Deputy Federal Prosecutor Claude Nicati (search) in which he detailed his case against 10 people arrested in raids since December and ordered the launch of preliminary judicial proceedings. Five suspects have been released but remain under investigation.

Swiss justice authorities routinely decline to comment on media reports or give details of ongoing investigations, and prosecutor's office spokeswoman Andrea Sadecky told The Associated Press she could not comment.

"All I can say is that we regret the report has been made public," she said.

In June, Swiss Federal Prosecutor Valentin Roschacher said investigators had concluded that Switzerland likely was used as a base for financial and logistical support for Al Qaeda.

According to Le Temps, Nicati's report said two suspects arrested in Switzerland — both originally from Yemen — were in "close contact with several hardcore members of bin Laden's movement."

The report cited the name Abdallah al-Kini (search) and described him as an "operational Al Qaeda agent" involved in the October 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole off Yemen, which killed 17 American sailors.

Al-Kini, who has not been mentioned previously by Yemeni anti-terror investigators, currently is detained there, the report said.

Al-Kini claimed to recognize a third man arrested in Switzerland's anti-terror sweep when shown a photograph by investigators, and he said the individual trained at an Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, it added.

The report said al-Kini also was "heavily involved" in a series of bombings on foreigners' residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 2003.

Thirty-five people, including one Swiss citizen, were killed in the attacks. The Swiss death led authorities here to open an investigation, ultimately leading to the arrests in December, January and May.

The inquiry was based partly on Swiss numbers stored in terrorists' mobile telephones found in Saudi Arabia, court documents have revealed. Al-Kini called a Swiss number in July 2003 and said he wished to travel to Switzerland, Le Temps said, citing Nicati's report.

Swiss investigators previously have found evidence that some of the Al Qaeda members who attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, made calls in Afghanistan and Pakistan using prepaid cards bought in Switzerland.

Swiss lawmakers recently closed a legal loophole allowing customers to purchase the cards anonymously.

Swiss authorities say they have not found evidence the country was a hub for terrorist groups.

However, the report said the individuals targeted in the sweep constituted a criminal organization that "transferred large sums of money to persons close to the Al Qaeda movement" in European countries, including Switzerland, and Gulf nations.

They are believed to have helped citizens of Muslim nations — particularly Yemen and Somalia — travel to Switzerland and other European countries and to have provided them with fake identities. They also are suspected of "illegal commercial activities."

In other terror inquiries, Swiss authorities have blocked bank accounts containing about $27 million. They also are investigating a now-defunct Muslim financial firm which the U.S. government alleges helped fund Al Qaeda.