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Journalism of Courage
A small Hamburg mosque once frequented by September 11 attackers was shut down and searched Monday because German authorities believed the prayer house was again being used as a meeting point for Islamic radicals.
The Taiba mosque was closed and the cultural association that runs it was banned,officials in the northern German city of Hamburg said. We have closed the mosque because it was a recruiting and meeting point for Islamic radicals who wanted to participate in so-called jihad or holy war, said Frank Reschreiter,a spokesman for the Hamburg state interior ministry. He said 20 police officers were searching the building and had confiscated material,including several computers.
The homes of leading members of the cultural association were also searched and the groups assets were confiscated,Hamburgs state government said in a statement.
The prayer house,until two years ago known as the al-Quds mosque,was a recruiting point for some of the September 11 attackers before they moved to the US. September 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta as well as attackers Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah had frequented the mosque.
