Germany names Yemeni suspect

BERLIN, Germany -- German authorities have released the name of a Yemeni man they say they are seeking as part of their investigation into the attacks in the United States.

They say a man using the name Ramzi Binalshibh, 29, was registered as living at the same Hamburg address as Mohamed Atta.

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A man using the name Mohamed Atta is believed by the FBI to have been on the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center.

Officials also said on Friday they believe a German-based terrorist cell began planning the attacks as early as 1999, though they have uncovered no evidence linking the group to Osama bin Laden.

Germany's chief prosecutor said Binalshibh took flight lessons with Atta at a school in Venice, Florida.

Chief federal prosecutor Kay Nehm said Binalshibh and Said Bahaji, 26, were part of a terrorist cell that planned the hijackings after forming in Germany.

He said other members of the cell included Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah.

International arrest warrants have been issued for Binalshibh and Bahaji on charges of forming a terrorist organisation and at least 5,000 counts of murder, Nehm said.

Bahaji is a German of Moroccan origin.

The prosecutor said witnesses interviewed by investigators described Binalshibh and Atta as friends.

He said in August or September 2000, Binalshibh was denied a U.S. visa when he tried to attend another pilot school, the Florida Flight Training Center -- which was also attended by Jarrah -- after making a $2,200 down payment.

He was last seen in Hamburg in August, Nehm added.

He said Bahaji lived in the same Hamburg apartment as Atta and studied electronics at the same Hamburg technical college attended by Atta and al-Shehhi.

Witnesses had said Bahaji had Islamic extremist and "anti-Western" views, Nehm said. He left Germany for Pakistan on Sept. 3, purportedly for an internship.

Nehm said Bahaji's wife had been questioned by German investigators shortly after the attacks.

She had told them she has no way of reaching him, the prosecutor added.

He said Bahaji signed over the rights to handle his affairs to his wife's stepfather, "in case something should happen to me," a few days before leaving.