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Germans investigate claim that Saudi sheik
tried to obtain weapons for al-Qaida
Copyright � 2001 AP Online
The associated Press
BERLIN (December 5, 2001 3:22 p.m. EST) - Authorities in Germany are
investigating claims by a businessman that he was approached by a Saudi
sheik seeking to procure missiles and potentially dangerous substances for
associates of Osama bin Laden, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Juergen Stoltenow, a spokesman for Germany's Federal Criminal Office, said
authorities questioned the German businessman in October and that an
investigation was under way. He declined to provide further details or
identify the businessman.
But in an interview published Wednesday in the German newsmagazine Stern,
the unnamed businessman said he met several times with a Saudi named Hassan
Enany. During a 1993 meeting, Enany allegedly inquired about missiles,
biological and chemical substances he said were intended for Arab friends
with connections to bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks.
The unnamed businessman told Stern that he met Enany in London, the Spanish
resort town of Marbella and elsewhere and that he gave Enany documents about
Russian missile systems and how to obtain them.
It was not clear how the businessman came in possession of the documents.
According to Stern, the FBI - which has had field officers working in
Germany since Sept. 11 - is now trying to ascertain whether Enany was
involved in financing bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
Three of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers lived and studied in Germany where
authorities believed they and at least three others hatched the worst
terrorist attack in history.
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