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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department has collated concerning the court procedures against Mansour Thaer in Germany and Italy; what evidence he has collated concerning links between Thaer and terrorist organisations; and if he will make a statement. [76020] Mr. Straw: Mansour Thaer was arrested on 23 April 2002 in Germany and held on suspicion of being a member of a terrorist group. He was being investigated on suspicion of connections to the Abu-Ali group (linked to 11.9.) and the Meliani Case (the Frankfurt cell linked to the Strasbourg bomb plot). He was released on 6 August. Thaer has also been investigated in Italy for his links with a terrorist cell and for participation in a criminal conspiracy to traffic in arms, explosives, chemical weapons, identity papers, receiving stolen goods and aiding illegal immigration. According to the Italian authorities he is a member of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), an Algerian-based group operating in North Africa and Italy. The UN added GSPC to the list of terrorist groups linked to al Qaeda on 8 October.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

76020; 391 c362-3W;391 c360W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Administration of justice Germany Proscribed organisations Terrorism Italy Thaer, Mansour

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk