Iraqi on Trial for Supporting Insurgents

The trial of an Iraqi Kurd charged with supporting Islamic insurgents and helping a leading extremist to get medical treatment in Britain was adjourned for six weeks shortly after opening in Munich on Tuesday. The trial of Lokman Amin Mohammed, 31, is the first in Germany of a suspect accused of terrorist activities in a foreign country. Mohammed faces charges of providing financial and logistical support to the extremist group Ansar al-Islam. He is also accused of helping at least seven insurgents from Iraq to come to Europe, including a badly injured high-ranking Ansar al-Islam official for whom he managed to arrange treatment in Britain. Prosecutors say Mohammed also arranged medical supplies for insurgents fighting in Iraq. He was arrested in Munich in December 2003 on a people smuggling charge before investigators began to look deeper into his alleged activities. He had come to Germany in 2000, had valid residency papers and was employed on the production line of carmaker BMW. The defense asked the judges in the Munich court to adjourn to allow them more time to study documents which had recently come to light in a separate investigation. The trial will not resume before May 31.