Unlike cases such as the London transportation bombings of 2005, in which the bombers communicated frequently with masterminds in Pakistan during the final weeks, the cell here was largely "self-contained and self-directed," the law enforcement official said. "They seemed to be running their own show."
The third man arrested in a police raid at a vacation home in central Germany was identified as Adem Y., 29.
The cell appears to have brought together separate groups connected with the two converts, officials said.
Gelowicz and another suspect of Turkish origin were active in radical circles in Stuttgart and the nearby town of Ulm, a hub for emerging networks sending aspiring Islamic militants to Pakistan, authorities said.
Schneider and two other suspects are from Saarland, a small state near the French border. Schneider turned radical four years ago and studied at Koranic schools in Syria and Egypt, officials said.
The suspects from Saarland include a Lebanese man who arrived in Germany on Monday after being deported from Pakistan, where he allegedly was en route to a terrorist training camp, officials said. The suspect was released after questioning this week but remained under investigation. Another man at large is Zafer S. a Turk believed to be in Turkey or Iraq.
Even if the missing suspects are arrested, prosecuting them might be difficult. It is not a crime in Germany to attend a foreign terrorist training camp.
U.S. and German officials are also still working to piece together the process by which the suspects joined up with the Islamic Jihad Union, also known as the Islamic Jihad Group.
Also troubling to officials was the presence of several suspects from Germany's vast Turkish community. In the past, Germans of Turkish origin have been far less likely to turn up in Islamic extremist networks than Pakistani Britons or young North Africans in France and its neighbors to the south.
rotella@latimes.com
josh.meyer@latimes.com
Special correspondent Laabs reported from Stuttgart. Times staff writers Rotella and Meyer reported, respectively, from Madrid and Washington.
