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BERLIN, Nov 18: Germany has quietly freed from jail an ex-bodyguard of Osama bin Laden who testified against fellow militants, and is talking to Washington about removing him from a UN terror watchlist, sources close to the case say.
Shadi Abdalla was released earlier this month, his lawyer confirmed, after serving just under a year of a 4-year sentence for planning attacks on Jewish targets in Germany. His short jail term was a reward for turning informant and testifying against others still on trial for the plot, which was allegedly driven by Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
The problem for German authorities is that Abdalla, who fears for his life, remains on a United Nations terror sanctions list. Any financial support as part of a witness protection programme would technically violate international law.
The German foreign ministry had no comment on a report in Der Spiegel magazine's online edition that Washington wanted to question Abdalla before agreeing to back his removal from the list.
A diplomatic source said a Berlin counter-terrorism official was in Washington this week to discuss Abdalla. "There are talks going on," the diplomat said. A State Department spokeswoman said Washington did not comment on ongoing cases.
'COLLISION OF DUTIES': The Jordanian's lawyer, Ruediger Deckers, said it was fair to assume Abdalla was living under a new identity. He was satisfied Germany was doing all it could to protect him. But he said there was a "collision of duties" between the state's obligations towards Abdalla and the UN sanction rules.
Abdalla, 28, is listed on a UN sanctions website among "individuals belonging to or associated with" Al Qaeda.
The tall Jordanian, who had lived in Germany since the mid-1990s, said he travelled to Afghanistan and briefly became Osama's bodyguard after meeting a relative of the Al Qaeda leader during a trip to Saudi Arabia. He returned to Germany after leaving Afghanistan in May 2001.
Security analysts say that if Washington refuses to back the delisting, Germany and other states may be loath in future to suggest names for terror sanctions lists. They also say that a failure to delist individuals who have served their time in prison or cooperated with authorities could discourage other militants from becoming informants.
ROLES REVERSED: The issue of US access to Abdalla has ironic echoes of a previous tense chapter between Berlin and Washington.
German authorities tried long and in vain to persuade the United States to let them question Ramzi bin al-Shaibah, a captured Al Qaeda leader, in order to gather evidence against two Moroccans accused of helping plot the 9/11 attacks.
Washington refused on security grounds, frustrating German officials and prosecutors. One of the men was acquitted and the other is currently on trial for the second time.
Abdalla testified at both trials, at one point telling how Osama boasted, 4 months before the 9/11 attacks in 2001, of planning to kill thousands of people in the United States.-Reuters
