Germany charges Jordanian with founding terror cell

BERLIN, Oct 16 (Reuters) German prosecutors charged a 33-year-old Jordanian man with helping to set up what they described as a terrorist group in Sudan with links to al Qaeda, the Federal Prosecutor's Office said today.

The man, referred to as Thaer A., is accused of organising the financing and recruitment for the group which aimed to train members in Sudan for a ''guerrilla war.'' ''The aim of this group was to open up a front against the 'crusaders' in Sudan and waging a holy war as called for by Osama bin Laden,'' the Prosecutors' Office in Karlsruhe said in a statement.

The man, who was extradited from Sweden earlier this year, worked with Moroccan 'Redouane E H', who was formally charged by the prosecutors office in May for supporting both the global al Qaeda network and al Qaeda in Iraq.

Swedish authorities extradited Thaer A in April on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by German authorities in connection with their investigation into a ring of suspected terrorists operating in Germany.

Reuters GL GC1724