Prosecutors said police in Hamburg arrested the suspect last Thursday. The man, a German citizen of Moroccan descent, is said to be a member of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network and to have relayed messages between terrorist cells in Germany and abroad.

Ralf Stegner, Interior Minister of the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, where the suspect lived, made the announcement to the press over the weekend.

"The suspect is a German citizen of Moroccan origin, 36 years old and resides in Kiel," Stegner said. "The investigation is being led by the prosecutor-general, but more details cannot be made at this time because the investigation is ongoing," he said.

The suspect has been identified only as Redouane E. H. As part of the investigation, federal police searched many residences in Kiel.

Presumed contact with September 11 bombers

Redouane E.H. is suspected of being in contact with a man named Said Bahaji, who had close ties to three of the September 11 suicide pilots, who lived and studied in Hamburg. The pilots flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.

Bahaji fled Germany one week before the attacks and is believed to be in Pakistan. Investigators said that Redouane had numerous contacts with the international network of terrorists in Syria, Algeria and Iraq, among other places.

Prosecutors said that in November 2005 Redouane took part in explosives training at a camp run by a militant organization in Algeria.

Investigators said they grew suspicious of Redouane through monitoring conversations in Internet chat rooms.

State Interior Minister Stegner said Redouane's arrest was a relief. ""We're quite glad that this manhunt was a success. That only happens when state and federal agencies work closely together," he said.

Prosecutors also accuse Redouane of acting as a messenger between terrorist cells, of recruiting militants for suicide attacks in Iraq and of supporting those efforts through fundraising.

Under German law, Redouane could face up to 10 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist organization.

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said the arrest shows that Germany is a country at risk of global terror.