Pat Dollard | Young Americans

German authorities nabbed the alleged masterminds of a deadly plot against U.S. targets. But dozens of others believed to be close to their terror cell are still at large.

Oct. 3, 2007 - German authorities have launched a worldwide manhunt for as many as 50 members and supporters of a suspected terror cell that was allegedly plotting to launch multiple car-bomb attacks against U.S. military and other American-related targets in Germany, several officials close to the investigation have told NEWSWEEK.

The plot was first made public when it was foiled a month ago, and three of the group’s alleged ringleaders are in custody. But the officials said as many as a dozen active members of the cell are still believed to be on the loose—dispersed to locations including Pakistan and Great Britain. The new information suggests the German terror plot, which heightened security concerns in the United States as well as Europe, involved a more extensive network of Islamic militants than authorities originally disclosed.

Investigators believe five members of the cell, most of them German-born converts to militant Islam, are currently in Pakistan, where they went for training in makeshift camps run by members of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), an Uzbek-led affiliate of Al Qaeda’s central command. Another two suspects are under surveillance in Germany, according to a German official who, like other investigators, asked for anonymity due to the continuing inquiry. The German-based suspects are being watched while detectives continue to collect evidence that they hope will eventually justify criminal charges.

Yet another suspect, also said to be a German citizen, is believed by German and British authorities to have fled to the United Kingdom. Local authorities are aware of his presence, although it is not clear whether the suspect’s precise whereabouts are currently known to investigators. German and British authorities are concerned that the suspect may be trying to get into contact with a possible IJU cell in Britain, though the existence of such a cell has not been confirmed.

Full Newsweek Online Article