"This day has changed the world," German President Johannes Rau said.
asserted
Rau → change → world
He had watched in shock as the burning twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed in New York.
asserted
towers → watch → York
Nearly 3,000 people were killed on September 11, 2001, when Islamist terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and turned them into deadly weapons.
asserted
terrorists → kill → weapons
Eleven Germans among the 9/11 victims
Germany’s head of state struggled to find the right words: "We do not know what political or social consequences what happened today will have — what we have watched unfold on our television screens in shock, barely able to comprehend or even reflect on it."
asserted
we → struggle → it
It soon emerged that the victims include people from 92 countries, among them 11 Germans.
asserted
victims → emerge → Germans
The following day, a rapidly spreading rumor was confirmed: Three of the four suspected hijackers had recently lived in Hamburg.
asserted
Three → spread → Hamburg
The Islamist terrorists were thought to have been led by Egyptian-born Mohammed Atta, who had come to the northern German city in the early 1990s to study.
asserted
who → think → 1990s
, the young man became radicalized, particularly at Hamburg's Al-Quds Mosque, which was later closed by German security authorities.
asserted
which → become → authorities
He spent the final three years of his life in an apartment shared with two other suspected attackers in the Harburg district.
asserted
He → spend → district
The so-called Hamburg terrorist cell was believed to have included six men, among them Moroccan national Mounir al-Motassadeq.
asserted
cell → call → them
He was charged as an accomplice in the world's first trial related to the September 11, 2001, attacks.
asserted
He → charge → attacks
In 2003, the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court sentenced him to the maximum 15-year prison term for aiding and abetting thousands of murders and for membership in a terrorist organization.
asserted
Court → sentence → organization
After serving his sentence, al-Motassadeq was deported to his native Morocco.
asserted
Motassadeq → serve → Morocco
Another suspected attacker from the circle around pilot Mohammed Atta was Ramzi Binalshibh, who was born in Yemen and had been held without trial at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay since 2006.
asserted
who → suspect → 2006
The United States detained hundreds of suspects at the prison, which human rights groups and international bodies have described as contrary to international law.
asserted
groups → detain → law
Among them was Murat Kurnaz, who was born in Bremen.
asserted
who → bear → Bremen
He was released in August 2006 after nearly five years without evidence establishing his involvement in the terrorist attacks.
asserted
He → release → attacks
Kurnaz later recounted his experience in a book that was adapted into a film in 2013.
asserted
that → recount → 2013
Frank-Walter Steinmeier before investigative committee
Meanwhile, investigative committees in the German Bundestag sought to determine why Kurnaz and other suspects had wrongly come under the scrutiny of US and German intelligence agencies.
asserted
Kurnaz → seek → agencies
Among those called to testify was then-Foreign Minister and current German PresidentFrank-Walter Steinmeier.
asserted
Steinmeier → call → those
At the center of the inquiry was the question of why German security authorities rejected the possible return in 2002 of the German-born detainee, who held a Turkish passport.
asserted
who → reject → passport
"No one doubts, and neither do I, that Mr. Kurnaz suffered terribly in Guantanamo," Steinmeier said.
asserted
Steinmeier → doubt → Guantanamo
"That is why we also sought to ensure that he was treated in accordance with the rule of law.
asserted
he → seek → law
But at the same time, please understand that we were also obliged to ensure security in our own country."
asserted
we → understand → country
Gerhard Schröder voiced 'unconditional solidarity'
asserted
Schröder → voice → solidarity
The Kurnaz case illustrated the pressure on German policymakers in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the US.
asserted
case → illustrate → US
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder addressed parliament the following day.
asserted
Schröder → address → parliament
"Yesterday, September 11, 2001, will go down in history as a dark day for all of us," the Social Democrat said.
asserted
Democrat → go → us
He said he had expressed to the American president the deeply felt condolences of the entire German people.
asserted
he → say → people
"I also assured him of Germany's unconditional — I emphasize: unconditional — solidarity," Schröder said.
asserted
Schröder → assure → solidarity
Germany, he added, would offer the US any assistance they requested, "of course, also by identifying and pursuing those responsible for and behind these despicable attacks."
Germany's Bundestag passes anti-terror laws
Schröder's remarks set the tone and opened the door for a series of tougher laws.
asserted
remarks → add → laws
Just weeks after the attacks, the governing coalition of Social Democrats and Greens unveiled its first so-called security package, involving more funding, more personnel as well as greater powers for police and intelligence agencies.
asserted
coalition → govern → police
Religious organizations that had previously been granted special protection could now be banned like other associations if their activities were directed against the Basic Law, Germany's constitutional order based on freedom and democracy, or if they pursued other criminal aims.
uncertain
they → grant → aims
Less than four months after the terrorist attacks in the US, Germany's Anti-Terrorism Act took effect.
asserted
Act → take → effect
Intelligence agencies were given access to personal data held by banks, airlines and telecommunications companies.
asserted
agencies → give → banks
Immigration laws were tightened.
asserted
laws → tighten → ?
Through data-mining searches, in which large amounts of data were cross-checked without any specific suspicion, authorities sought to identify so-called sleeper agents — people like Mohammed Atta from the Hamburg terrorist cell, who had not been identified by security agencies in time.
asserted
who → cros → time
The Federal Constitutional Court brought an end to the legally questionable practice.
asserted
Court → bring → practice
Such searches were permissible only when there was a specific threat, the court said in a 2006 ruling.
asserted
court → be → ruling
Seven years later, Germany's highest court also ruled that parts of the country's anti-terrorism database were unconstitutional.
asserted
parts → rule → database
…and 9 more, not listed.
