An al Qaeda operative named Naamen Meziche has been reportedly detained in Pakistan. Meziche had extensive ties to the 9/11 plotters and was part of a 2010 plot to launch Mumbai-style attacks in Europe. That plot also had significant links to al Qaeda’s Iran-based network.
Leaders of an al Qaeda cell that plotted a Mumbai-style attack in Europe in 2010 and fought alongside the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are living in Iran.
The recently uncovered terrorist plot against Europe is tied to the same mosque frequented by some of the 9/11 hijackers. The Taiba mosque was closed in August 2010, just weeks after a key terror suspect who attended the mosque was detained in Afghanistan.
German authorities closed down the Taiba mosque in Hamburg earlier this week. The mosque was formerly known as Al Quds, and was home to al Qaeda’s Hamburg cell for the 9/11 attacks. The imam in charge of the mosque, Mamoun Darkazanli, has been tracked by Western intelligence services for almost two decades.