German Arrested in France Is a Key Al Qaeda Boss

Yahoo! News ^ | 06/11/2003

[NCjim]

A German man arrested in France last week on suspicion of links to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States is a top leader of the al Qaeda network, France's Interior Minister said Wednesday.

Christian Ganczarski, 36, was arrested at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport on June 2.

"(Intelligence) services know that he is a top leader of al Qaeda, in contact with Osama bin Laden himself, and has been in Afghanistan and Bosnia," Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told parliament.

[aristeides]

First I've heard of Christian G. being a top leader of AQ.

[MEG33]

I never heard of him.

[MEG33]

I've never heard of him.

[Dead Dog]

Since when was GanCZARsky and German name?

[justshutupandtakeit]

This is weird.

[Dog]

Found this on him...

Suspects in Tunisia Terror Attack Arrested

Police in Paris have arrested a 36-year-old German suspected of involvement in the April 2002 terrorist attack on a synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, which killed 21 people. Christian Ganczarski is thought to be an accomplice to Karim Mehdi, a 34-year-old Moroccan who was also arrested on charges of terrorism and is believed to have ties to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda terror network. Though Ganczarski was detained on Monday, French authorities first announced the arrest on Friday. Ganczarski came under the focus of investigators after it was discovered he had received a call from suicide bomber Nizar Nawar shortly before the bombing near a synagogue on the island of Djerba. Police searching Ganczarski's home also discovered the phone number of Mounir el Motassadeq, who was convicted as an accomplice to the Hamburg terror cell responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks in February. Ganczarski was detained briefly in 2002 but then released for insufficient evidence. Investigators believe the two men could help them link the Djerba attack to al Qaeda.

[tictoc]

Many ethnic Poles immigrated to west Germany between the late 19th and early 20th century. Most already had German citizenship because the regions they came from were in the eastern part of Germany at that time, which is today part of Poland.

[Dead Dog]

Thanks! That makes perfect sense, I should have known.

[Republic Rocker]

The news that gets around to people takes strange ways...

I just returned from 2 weeks in Europe and this was all over CNN-Europe. However I get home and this story is no place to be found.....

What are the media giants here following...? Too much hillary Clinton no doubt!

[Stultis]

This fellow is the first of two guys connected with the Tunis attack that the Germans just let walk away:

German investigated over Tunisia synagogue bombing allowed to leave the country

Terror Suspect's Departure From Germany Raises Concern in Other Nations

A German man under investigation for links to top figures of Al Qaeda slipped out of the country last month, withdrawing his four children from school, terminating his lease and obtaining visas for Saudi Arabia without attracting any attention from the police, according to German officials.

Christian Ganczarski, 36, a Polish immigrant who until recently lived in the western German city of Mülheim, had been under investigation since the German police overheard a telephone call from Nizar Nawar, shortly before Mr. Nawar detonated a bomb on April 11 in front of the Ghriba Synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba. The blast killed 21 people, including 14 German tourists.

Prosecutors overseeing the investigation say that under German law, the evidence tying Mr. Ganczarski to the bombing and his own confession of recent contact with Qaeda leaders were insufficient to keep him under constant surveillance or to prevent him from traveling. They say those limitations are the consequence of a Constitution devised to prevent the reoccurrence of the country's totalitarian past.

Here's the story about the second guy, which also has some interesting information about Christian G. and other figures:

Report: second suspect in Tunisian synagogue attack has left Germany

[getgoing]

thread from last night:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/926710/posts

[GOP_1900AD]

A key question is, did he live in East Germany prior to 1989? And if so, what was his specific background there and where did he live?

[GOP_1900AD]

Further note... I now see he was a Polish immigrant. When did he immigrate? Was he ever affiliated with the KGB when he lived in Poland (e.g. when he was a young adult) assuming he was still in Poland during the late 1980s and into 1990 or 1991?

[Shermy]

Wasn't it a couple months ago there were a slew of stories about him - and leaving for Saudi?

[1Old Pro]

A German man arrested in France....

France had better start making a few more high profile terrorist arrests if they want to show they are series about terrorism.

[aristeides]

Yes, I saw a few such stories. But this is the first story I've seen that identified him as a leader of Al Qaeda. I wonder if the Germans knew about that when they let him go.

[swarthyguy]

>>What are the media giants here following...?

Keep 'em in the dark and feed 'em BS; Laci, etc.

Don't upset the Americans with facts.

Peace, Love, Kumbaya and Shanti Om.

Hear no evil, etc.

News editors should be shot for incompetence.

[MEG33]

If there is a big story it dominates.The sniper case predominated during the Bali bombing.I learned all about Australian newspapers and found a good blog.

[MEG33]

That other thread had some interesting info.#12 post