German confesses to being al Qaeda member

Prosecutors in Frankfurt accused the man, identified only as Rami M., of training in an al Qaeda camp in the western tribal regions of Pakistan, where he was arrested at a checkpoint in June last year and handed over to German officials in August.
The trial begins less than a week after three suspected al Qaeda members were arrested in Germany on suspicion of plotting a terror attack with explosives.
The information provided by Rami M. to German authorities may have resulted in Germany raising its terrorism threat level in November, media reports said.
"He confessed to the charges, which were being part of the terrorist organization al Qaeda," defense attorney Michael Koch told Reuters. "He was trained by them in Pakistan ... and was part of the organization."
Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of 4-1/2 to five years.
The 25-year-old man travelled to Pakistan's remote Waziristan region near the Afghanistan border in 2009, prosecutors said.
Once there, Rami M., who is of Syrian descent, is accused of training at an al Qaeda camp for jihadists and joining in hostilities against the Pakistan army.
"Everyone will get to hear exactly what he did. We aren't dealing with an active fighter in the true sense," Koch said, adding it is unclear what sort and how much fighting Rami M. did while in Pakistan, although he knew of its attacks.
After informing a high-ranking al Qaeda member that he no longer wanted to fight in Pakistan, Rami M. was to be the international terror network's contact and fundraiser in Germany, the government said.
Prosecutors said he had made contact with the German embassy in Islamabad to clear up formalities ahead of returning to Germany.
Rami M. was arrested shortly after while seeking treatment for a broken leg, German media reported. He is said to have disguised himself in a burqa, but his height aroused the suspicions of the Pakistani police, who arrested him.
Koch said his client voluntarily chose to return to Germany.
"There is reliable evidence that he wanted to return on his own -- possibly home to his family and also away from (al Qaeda)," Koch said