BERLIN — A small Hamburg mosque once frequented by 9/11 attackers was shut down and searched yesterday because German authorities believed it was again being used as a meeting point for Islamic radicals.
The Taiba mosque was closed and the cultural association that runs it was banned, officials in the northern German city of Hamburg said.
“We have closed the mosque because it was a recruiting and meeting point for Islamic radicals who wanted to participate in so-called jihad, or holy war,” said Frank Reschreiter, a spokesman for the Hamburg state Interior Ministry.
He said police were searching the building and had confiscated computers and other items.
The prayer house, known until two years ago as the al-Quds mosque, was a meeting and recruiting point years ago for some of the 9/11 attackers before they moved to the United States, authorities say. Sept. 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta and attackers Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah had studied in Hamburg and frequented the al-Quds mosque.