U.S. interrogation of German may strain ties with Berlin

BERLIN, April 25 (UPI) -- Diplomats fear the ongoing detention of a seemingly innocent German terror suspect by U.S. forces in Afghanistan will develop into a major strain on trans-Atlantic relations.

In early January a 41-year-old German of Afghan origin walked up to the entrance of U.S. military base Waren near Kabul to shop in one of its Western-style supermarkets. The man, identified by German news magazine Der Spiegel as Gholam Ghaus Z. from Wuppertal, in western Germany, had come to Afghanistan to visit relatives.

After he showed his German passport, he was let inside the base. When the man proceeded with his shopping tour in the store, where he asked for an electric shaver, he was arrested. In his pockets, authorities found a brochure depicting London's Tower Bridge, roughly $1,500 in cash (in different currencies) and phone cards from several countries.

Gholam Ghaus Z. has been held as a terror suspect in a U.S. military prison at Bagram Air Base ever since. The Red Cross has visited him there and contacted his family in Germany.

U.S. officials are understandably concerned: Over the past year terror attacks in Afghanistan have increased significantly, some involving extremists from Western countries. Several Germans have traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to receive terror training.

The case has nevertheless developed into a diplomatic nightmare for U.S.-German relations, because this time the Americans probably have the wrong man. After extensive intelligence gathering, German security experts, Der Spiegel said, are now convinced that the 41-year-old is completely harmless. Observers fear that the whole affair will develop into a second Murat Kurnaz case -- German-born Turk Kurnaz was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 and detained as a terror suspect at Guantanamo Bay for nearly five years, despite findings by U.S. and German investigators that he had no links to terrorist groups. Kurnaz was freed and turned over to German authorities in 2006 only after German Chancellor Angela Merkel personally pleaded for his release. Kurnaz's case clouded U.S.-German relations at the time.

U.S. authorities immediately informed Germany's intelligence agencies about the man's arrest. The Germans have since launched extensive background checks on the man and his family in Germany; German agents also interrogated him in his prison cell in Afghanistan. They say his family has no links to terror groups; Gholam Ghaus Z. is in early retirement since he has tried to overcome psychological problems with therapies. Just those psychological problems may have U.S. authorities worried; they have interrogated him for hours with no result, but noted that the man behaved strangely at times.

Asked about the brochure, which U.S. authorities said could depict a terror target, the man said he had visited relatives in London and had gone on a sightseeing tour. As for the cash, he said his trip to Afghanistan had involved a stop in Iran, where he sold off numerous used German cell phones to make some money.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has since talked to U.S. Secretary Condoleezza Rice about the man's fate, urging her to bring about his release.

"We hope that we can soon bring this case to a happy ending," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said earlier this week in Berlin.

That's apparently not enough for some German lawmakers who have called on the government in Berlin to bang its fist on the table and make clear that this is not the way to deal with allied countries.

Der Spiegel said the Americans would only release the prisoner if Germany fulfills extensive security guarantees; apparently, U.S. authorities demand round-the-clock surveillance of Gholam Ghaus Z., which is hardly legally possible if a German court deems him harmless.

Observers hope that the man's release comes swiftly. While Gholam Ghaus Z. won't be sent to Guantanamo, a second Murat Kurnaz can't be in the interest of diplomats in Berlin or Washington.