Terror attacks apparently plotted in Germany - New York Times
( 2001-09-29 16:12 ) (7 )

US intelligence officials believe the September 11 terror attacks were plotted in Germany, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

The daily also said German intelligence agents provided key information in the global probe, after eavesdropping on conversations between followers of chief suspect Osama bin Laden.

"It looks like it was organized in Germany," the Times quoted an unnamed official as saying.

The official said some of the hijackers held planning sessions in Hamburg and enrolled in flight training elsewhere in Europe.

German authorities overheard the terrorists refer to "the 30 people traveling for the operation."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) already knew that 19 suspected hijackers had died on four planes, but now have started scouring flight manifests and other clues for 11 more people who might have been part of the plot, according to the Times.

The newspaper also reported that German investigators have pieced together a diagram of the relationships between the members of what they call the Hamburg cell of Al Qaeda, the network headed by bin Laden.

Meanwhile the Washington Post reported Saturday that US authorities planned to double the number of agents working German leads.

US agents believe that the trail from Germany could lead to the Middle East and to suspected plotters.