Germany Thwarts Attack on Iraqi Leader

German police arrested three Iraqis on Friday in anti-terror raids across several cities in connection with the prime minister's visit to the country.

On Saturday, Germany's federal prosecutor's office announced a fourth man had been arrested in his Berlin apartment on suspicion of offering support to the attack plans and of supporting a terrorist organisation.

A statement from the German federal prosecutors' office said the men had been detained during raids at locations in Berlin, Augsburg and Stuttgart. They were being held as suspected members of Ansar al-Islam, a militant group originating in northern Iraq. They were thought to be planning an attack on Allawi during his visit to the German capital on Friday.

The three suspects arrested on Friday are due to come before
a court on Saturday to face a formal arrest order.

Federal prosecutor Kay Nehm told reporters that tapped phone conversations between suspected members of the Islamic extremist group "included increasing clues that an attack was being planned."

"The comments led us to believe something was being planned against the Iraqi prime minister," he said.

Nehm would not elaborate on whether authorities knew what kind of attack the three mind have planned and said the suspects appeared to have been acting on the spur of the moment, seizing the opportunity of Allawi's visit. He added that initial searches by police had not found any weapons or bomb-making materials.

German authorities said Ansar al-Islam has about 100 supporters in Germany and the United States has linked the group, which has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Iraq, to al Qaeda. Germany has been investigating the group's activities, which Nehm said included fundraising, trafficking and propaganda.

Bomb disposal

While Germany has been a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, it has offered to broaden its role in training Iraqis. At a news conference in Berlin following the meeting between Allawi and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the German leader said he had offered to train Iraqi bomb disposal experts and host a bilateral business conference.

"We are considering training explosive ordnance removal specialists in Germany," Schröder told reporters, noting that Germany was already involved in training Iraqi police and troops in the United Arab Emirates.

While Germany said it is prepared to contribute to the stabilization of Iraq, it has stuck to its stance that it will not send troops into the country. It has added that any aid must be conducted outside of Iraq.

He and Schröder had met one month ago when Allawi came to Brussels looking to secure funds. Then, he angered many Europeans by describing states which opposed the US-led war in Iraq as "spectators."

Ahead of the meeting, Allawi struck a more conciliatory note, saying the purpose of his visit was not to ask for more German troops, but rather to seek additional reconstruction help.

"For our security, we need better Iraqi troops, not additional soldiers from faraway countries. That's why Germany training Iraqi personnel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is so important," Allawi wrote in an article published on Thursday in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.

So far, Germany has trained 430 Iraqi police in the UAE, and since Nov. 21 the German army has been conducting additional courses there for Iraqi soldiers.

Bilateral conference

Schröder added that Germany would invite Iraqi investors in February or March next year to discuss business opportunities in the war-torn country with the aim of creating a bilateral chamber of commerce.

"There have been very good, long-standing economic ties between Iraq and Germany throughout the periods of history which we can build on," Schroeder told AFP. "We are serious about cooperating on the reconstruction of the country toward a stable and democratic Iraq."