Lebanese man says put bomb on German train

BEIRUT, Mar 5 (Reuters) A Lebanese man confessed today to putting a bomb on a train in Germany and said it was intended to warn against insulting the Prophet Mohammad rather than kill, a judicial source said.

Jihad Hamad, who faces the charge of attempted mass murder, said during a pre-trial appearance in a Beirut court that he had placed a bag carrying a bomb on the train. The bomb did not explode. His trial is due to start on April 11.

Hamad said he had acted because of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad that were originally published in a Danish daily in 2005. Several European publications reprinted them as an affirmation of the right to free speech.

The cartoons sparked protests across the Muslim world that killed 50 people.

Another suspect in the plot to detonate bombs packed into suitcases on trains in July in the cities of Dortmund and Koblenz is being held in Germany.

REUTERS SP KP2329