Mosque used by September 11 attackers shut down

A Hamburg mosque has been closed because German authorities believed it was being used as a meeting point for Islamic radicals.

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A Hamburg mosque once frequented by some of the September 11 attackers has been shut down 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, Hamburg officials said in a statement. "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 Hamburg's state interior ministry.

He said that 20 police officers were searching the building and had confiscated material, including several computers. He was not aware of any arrests. However, the homes of leading members of the cultural association were searched and the group's assets were confiscated, the Hamburg state government said in a statement. Authorities have said the prayer house, until two years ago known as the al Quds mosque, was a meeting and recruiting point years ago for some of the September 11 attackers before they moved to the United States. The ringleader Mohamed Atta as well as Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah had studied in Hamburg and frequented al Quds mosque.

*AP