Hamburg, Germany (CNN) -- The man at the center of an alleged al Qaeda plot to bomb cities in Europe has told investigators the conspiracy was directed by one of the organization's most senior figures, according to European intelligence officials.
Ahmed Sidiqi, an Afghan German, was detained in Kabul in July and has since been questioned at the United States' Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the officials say. They say he has told interrogators that while in the tribal areas of Pakistan he met with a senior Al Qaeda leader, Younis al Mauretani, who was planning multiple attacks on European countries that would be similar to the attack on Mumbai, India, in 2008.
Little is known about Mauretani, but he is thought to be from North Africa and involved with al Qaeda's "external operations." He is thought to be in the tribal areas on the Pakistan/Afghan border.
European intelligence officials say Sidiqi has revealed that Mauretani planned to come to Europe with two other Germans to prepare the attacks. The two Germans were part of the group Sidiqi traveled with from Hamburg in the spring of 2009.
One was Naamen Meziche, a French citizen of Algerian descent, and the other was Shahab Dashti, a German Iranian. According to Sidiqi both were involved in the conspiracy, a European counterterrorism official told CNN.
CNN
