Germany Offers Terror Suspect to US First
September 15, 2002
Heading off a possible confrontation at the pass, Interior Minister Otto Schily told reporters on Sunday that Germany would allow US investigators first crack at top terrorist suspect Ramzi Binalshibh, arrested in Pakistan last week.
Binalshibh, currently under interrogation by Pakistani police, is on Germany's most wanted list after being charged on Sept. 20, 2001 with being part of a terrorist organization. Binalshibh is believed to be the logistical expert in Mohammed Atta's Hamburg terrorist cell and revealed in an interview his intricate knowledge of the planning behind the Sept. 11 attacks.
It is for those reasons both German and American investigators are eager to talk to him. The issue could have become a prickly one, with both America and Germany demanding his extradition.
But Schily said a US request for extradition "would have priority" over a German one.
"Obviously, the USA is the most affected by the horrible attacks," he said. "I understand it if they want him first."
The decision means Germany won't have to entagle itself in any controversial legal issues dealing with US investigators' access to the 30-year-old resident of Yemen. Had Pakistan extradited Binalshibh to Germany first, then German authorities would have had difficulty delivering him further to the United States because of the country's stance on the death penalty.
The European Human Rights convention forbids Germany to extradite anyone to a country where they could face the death penalty.
A goldmine of information
Binalshibh could provide US investigators a wealth of information about the Sept. 11 attacks and the way al Qaeda operates. According to reports, Binalshibh (photo) was a key al Qaeda functionary in Hamburg and enjoyed the trust of Osama bin Laden.
Schily's concession avoids further tensions between Germany and the United States. US and German investigators examining al Qaeda in Germany have already butted heads over procedure and legal issues, report German law enfocement officers.
US federal prosecutors have also been exasperated at Germany's refusal to hand over evidence on Zacarias Moussaoui, the suspected 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks who never made it one the plane because he was rejected for a Visa. Germany has refused becuase of the possibility Moussaoui could face death penalty.