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Extradited Islamic Militant in Court

By MURAD SEZER, Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey - A court charged an Islamic militant with treason Wednesday for allegedly masterminding a failed 1998 plot to crash an airplane into the mausoleum of the founder of secular Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Metin Kaplan, dubbed the "Caliph of Cologne" by his supporters, was returned to Istanbul late Tuesday, hours after a court in his longtime home of Germany approved his extradition. His group, the Caliphate State, which calls for the overthrow of Turkey's secular government to replace it with an Islamic state, is outlawed in Germany.

Turkish authorities allege Kaplan plotted in 1998 to fly an explosives-laden aircraft into Ataturk's mausoleum, which covers an entire hilltop in Ankara, when thousands of officers, students and foreign dignitaries would be visiting the site for a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the secular republic.

They say the plot was foiled when Turkish police arrested 23 suspected members of Kaplan's group the day before the ceremony.

Kaplan, who has denied the allegation, has declared a jihad, or "holy war," against the secular Turkish republic.

The Istanbul court charged Kaplan with "armed attempt to overturn the constitutional order," a charge that amounts to treason. If convicted, he could face a sentence of life imprisonment.

He was sent to a prison where he is expected to remain until the outcome of a trial. No date has been set yet.

German police detained him Tuesday at an Internet cafe in Cologne and hustled him to the airport in Duesseldorf.

Kaplan had asked the German court to reinstate his status as a political asylum seeker, but the court refused it, clearing the way for extradition. It gave Kaplan two weeks to seek legal recourse, but officials said he could also do that from Turkey.

Kaplan had served a four-year German prison sentence for incitement in the killing of a rival cleric in Berlin in 1997, but had been free since May 2003.

Kaplan took over Caliphate State from his father, Cemaleddin, who died in 1995. Cemaleddin fled Turkey after a 1980 military coup and founded the group in 1984 after gaining political refugee status in Germany with his family. German security officials say Kaplan has about 800 followers in that country.

His extradition had been delayed by German courts' concerns that his followers have been subjected to torture in Turkey and that he could face political persecution.

Kaplan's extradition was made possible after Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002. Turkey has introduced measures to crack down on torture to meet European Union conditions for membership, but rights groups say torture still occurs in the country.

Turkey last year assured the German government that Kaplan would get a fair trial.

"We have guarantees to that effect from Turkey," German Interior Minister Otto Schily told ZDF television, noting the country's efforts to join the European Union. "Whoever wants to achieve that must, of course, fulfill 100 percent such legal guarantees. I am convinced that there will be no reason for criticism."

Kaplan's group was banned Dec. 12, 2002, marking the first time that German authorities used tougher anti-terror laws approved after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

No connection has been established between Kaplan's group and the Sept. 11 attacks. But German investigators have said that some members traveled to Afghanistan to meet with supporters of alleged mastermind Osama bin Laden in 1996 or 1997.