The timing was hardly coincidental. On Sept. 10, 2002, one day before the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, police near Hamburg, Germany, staged a dramatic raid on a Syrian-owned company suspected of terrorist ties. The German government was sending a signal to the United States: we're doing our part in the war on terror. But the raid was more than a publicity stunt. For years, authorities had been keeping close watch on the company, a textile business called latex. According to German police reports shown to NEWSWEEK, some of the firm's past employees appeared to have Qaeda connections. One was close to Osama bin Laden's personal secretary. Another, Mohammed Haydar Zammar, was believed to have recruited Muhammad Atta and the other September 11 hijackers in Hamburg-then sent them to Afghanistan, where they planned the attacks with bin Laden. German prosecutors began preparing their case. The United States considered freezing Tatex's bank accounts, as it had done to dozens of other companies suspected of financing terrorism. Then something strange happened: nothing. Last summer the German government quietly closed the investigation and decided against prosecuting the company. The United States never touched its assets. Case closed.
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