Germany charges man extradited from Canada

A man alleged to be a former member of a German urban terror group has been charged with taking part in attacks on government officials and an attempt to blow up a Berlin monument in the 1980s and '90s, prosecutors said Monday.

Lothar Ebke, 50, was extradited in October by Canada, where he had been living since 1996. He was charged with membership in a terrorist group, the Revolutionary Cells, and causing an explosion, German federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Mr. Ebke is suspected of having taken part when members of the group's Berlin cell shot West Berlin's top immigration official twice in the legs in October, 1986, and shot a Berlin judge in the legs in September, 1987, prosecutors said. Both victims survived.

He also was charged with taking part in a 1991 attempt to blow up a gilded angel statue atop the 67-metre Victory Column in Berlin that commemorates 19th-century Prussian military victories. The explosion caused minor damage.

German authorities believe the Revolutionary Cells carried out more than 40 attacks since their founding in 1975. Several other suspected members have been on trial in a Berlin court since 2001.

Mr. Ebke belonged to the terrorist group's Berlin cell from 1985 to 1993, prosecutors said. He was living in Yellowknife when Canada extradited him to Germany. No trial has been set for him.