Nov 7, 2007, 16:41 GMT
Dusseldorf - A German prosecutor called Wednesday for three alleged al-Qaeda supporters to be jailed for up to nine years for trying to obtain nuclear material for a dirty bomb and other acts.
The court, in the western city of Dusseldorf, is set to issue its verdict on the trio next month after a trial lasting a year and a half in which most of the evidence came from hidden microphones.
The group's leader, 32, had been instructed by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to move to Germany, recruit terrorists and raise funds, prosecutor Horst Salzmann said in his review of the case.
He had trained in a camp for militants in Afghanistan and had fought against Operation Enduring Freedom troops after September 11, 2001.
The leader had vainly tried through a Luxembourg contact to obtain radioactive material that could be scattered by a bomb in a fresh attack on the United States.
The leader claimed he had been born in Iraq, but in reality was a native of Syria and was an 'incorrigible fanatic of the Jihad.'
Two Palestinian brothers aged 33 and 30 are also on trial, one for being a terrorist organization member and the other as a supporter.
They were also charged with setting up a vain attempt to fake a death and defraud a life assurance company.
Lawyers for the trio contend that the charges are completely unproven and that listening in with hidden microphones in the main accused's apartment was a long-running breach of his constitutional rights.
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