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Frankfurt airport 'Islamist' shootings trial begins Kosovo man admits Frankfurt airport Islamist attack
(about 1 hour later)
A Kosovo man accused of the first deadly Islamist attack on German soil has gone on trial, charged with shooting dead two US servicemen at Frankfurt airport in March. A Kosovo man has told a German court he shot dead two American servicemen at Frankfurt airport but said he did not understand why he had acted as he did.
Prosecutors say Arid Uka, 21, was an Islamist "lone wolf" radicalised solely through the internet, not through contact with known militant groups. Arid Uka, 21, told the court he was radicalised by jihadist propaganda videos he watched online.
They allege he wanted to kill the soldiers because they were going to join the Nato-led force in Afghanistan. Prosecutors believe he acted alone in carrying out the first deadly Islamist attack on German soil.
They say Mr Uka confessed at the scene. As well as the two dead, two other US airmen were seriously injured in the attack in March.
Extra security is in place at the state court in Frankfurt. "What I did was wrong, but I cannot undo what I did," Uka told the court in Frankfurt at the opening of his trial.
Prosecutors said Uka wanted to kill the soldiers because they were going to join the Nato-led force in Afghanistan.
Uka said he carried out the attack after watching a video purporting to show US servicemen raping a Muslim girl in Iraq.
In fact, the video was a scene from Brian De Palma's anti-war film, Redacted.
"I thought what I saw in that video, these people would do in Afghanistan," Uka said.
"I killed two people and opened fire on three others. Today I can't understand myself how I could have acted this way," he said.
He had no known contact with Islamist groups, prosecutors say.
'God is great''God is great'
Prosecutors say Mr Uka went into one of the airport terminals, saw some US soldiers and followed them back to their military bus. They say he asked one of them for a light, asked him where the bus was going and then shot that man dead. Prosecutors say Uka went into one of the airport terminals, saw some US servicemen and followed them back to their military bus. They say he asked one of them for a light, asked him where the bus was going and then shot that man dead.
The indictment says he then boarded the bus, shouting "Allah-u akbar" (God is great), and shot another man dead. Two others were severely injured; one of them was blinded in one eye.The indictment says he then boarded the bus, shouting "Allah-u akbar" (God is great), and shot another man dead. Two others were severely injured; one of them was blinded in one eye.
The gun then jammed and prosecutors say Mr Uka then fled into the terminal, where he was apprehended. He put his gun against the head of a fifth serviceman but the trigger jammed.
If the court accepts his confession, Mr Uka is likely to get 15 years in prison. Prosecutors say Uka then fled into the terminal, where he was apprehended and confessed to the attack.
The BBC's Stephen Evans, in Berlin, says Mr Uka wants to give a statement in court, but it is not yet clear whether he will be allowed to do so. If the court accepts his confession, Uka is likely to get 15 years in prison.
The soldiers on the bus had just flown in from Britain and were about to travel to the nearby US air base at Ramstein, a hub for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.The soldiers on the bus had just flown in from Britain and were about to travel to the nearby US air base at Ramstein, a hub for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Arid Uka was born in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica but grew up in Germany. At the time of the attack, he was apparently working at the airport.Arid Uka was born in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica but grew up in Germany. At the time of the attack, he was apparently working at the airport.
"The investigation showed that the accused wanted to kill the soldiers because they belonged to US forces under the Isaf mandate in Afghanistan," the state prosecutor's office said in a statement.