Bomb plot suspect confesses in German court

DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - The main defendant in a trial of four Islamic militants accused of planning major bomb attacks on U.S. targets in Germany confessed to the charges in court on Monday.

Fritz Gelowicz, a German convert to Islam, said his group planned attacks in Europe as early as 2006 while training along the Pakistani-Iranian border, and chose targets in Germany as it was the country with which they were most familiar.

Wearing faded jeans, sneakers, and a full beard, Gelowicz told the packed court the group had aimed to strike at U.S. power abroad.

"We wanted to pick targets where there were mostly U.S. soldiers," said Gelowicz.

Other members of the group -- German Daniel Schneider, Atilla Selek, a German citizen of Turkish origin, and Adem Yilmaz, a Turkish citizen, have already confessed to police, identifying bars, discos and the U.S. Ramstein air base as possible targets.

Prosecutors say the planned attacks were designed to be as destructive as the September 11, 2001 strikes in the United States.

The charges against the four men include preparing bomb attacks and being members of a terrorist organization. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in jail.

They are known as the "Sauerland group" because they were caught by police after months of surveillance while using a holiday cottage in the rural region of that name. Three of the four were captured after a dramatic escape attempt.

Police have said the militants were well-advanced in their preparations for attacks that would have been the most deadly of their kind in postwar Germany.

German investigators began monitoring the group in early 2007 and arrested it on September 4 that year. Investigators believe the defendants were aiming to time their planned car bomb attacks to coincide with a vote in parliament on whether Germany should extend its military presence in Afghanistan.

In court, Gelowicz confirmed suspicions the group wanted to influence public opinion against the controversial mission.

"We wanted to give the German population a sign, as a final warning, to pull their troops out of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan," he said.

(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; writing by Brian Rohan; Editing by Jon Boyle)