Ahmad Abdelazziz A., a 32-year-old Iraqi imam who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Walaa, is considered by intelligence and security officials as one of Germany's leading jihadist figures.

Walaa and four other men were detained on Tuesday on suspicion of building a network to recruit German IS fighters, according to German broadcasters WDR and NDR, and the Süddeutsche newspaper. They targeted young Muslims in the states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Aside from recruiting, Walaa and his associates also provided young Jihadists logistical and financial support for their journey to the Middle East

The four other detainees include a 50-year-old Turk, a 36-year-old German-Serb, a 27-year-old German and a 26-year-old Cameroonian.

Watch video 00:32 German police arrest five "IS" suspects

Walaa was reportedly known as "the worst of them all," among security officials.

Federal prosecutors had been investigating Walaa and his associates since last fall. In July, officials raided a mosque in the city of Hildesheim, which is known for being a key meeting place for the German salafist movement.

Walaa, who was colloquially known as the "preacher without a face," hosted sermons at the mosque about waging jihad in the Middle East. Security officials observed that a number of people who attended the seminars later left Germany to travel to Syria.

"The seminars were a means of creating the ideological and semantic foundation for future service to IS, particularly when it came to fighting," federal prosecutors said.

At least one young man recruited by Walaa's network is believed to have traveled to Syria with his family to fight.

German media reported that the authorities were helped by the testimony of a German former IS fighter who had fled from Syria and spoken out against the Islamist regime. Anil O., 22, gave an interview to German media in Turkey while waiting to return to Germany. He identified Walaa as IS' number one in Germany."

All five detained men had previously denied any terrorist links.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Leipzig, October 2016 Police in Leipzig arrested 22-year-old Syrian refugee Jaber al-Bakr after a two-day manhunt following the discovery of explosives and other bomb-making equipment at his apartment in Chemnitz. He was suspected of plotting to attack a Berlin airport. Two days later, he hanged himself in his prison cell.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Ansbach, July 2016 In July, the "Islamic State" (IS) claimed responsibility for two attacks carried out by asylum seekers. 15 people were injured in a crowded wine bar next to the entrance to a music festival in the Bavarian town of Ansbach after a rejected Syrian asylum seeker detonated an explosive device. The man killed himself in the attack.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Würzburg, July 2016 A 17-year-old asylum seeker wielding an axe and a knife went on a rampage on a regional train near Würzburg, seriously injuring four members of a tourist family from Hong Kong and a passer-by. The attacker was shot dead by police. German authorities said the teenager was believed to be a "lone wolf" inspired by the IS, but without being a member of the network.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Düsseldorf, May 2016 Three suspected members of the "Islamic State" terror network were arrested in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Baden Württemberg. Authorities say two of the men planned to blow themselves up in downtown Düsseldorf, while the other attacker and a fourth jihadist arrested in France planned to target pedestrians with guns and explosive devices.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Essen, April 2016 Police arrested three people over a bomb blast that injured three people in a Sikh temple in Essen. The bomb detonated after a wedding party, blowing out windows and destroying a part of the building's exterior. A 16-year-old suspect turned himself in after police showed footage of the attack from a surveillance camera and special police units arrested another young suspect in his parents' home.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Hanover, February 2016 German-Moroccan Safia S. is charged with stabbing a police officer at the main train station in the northern city of Hanover. The 16-year-old girl is suspected of having been "motivated by members of the Islamic State group in Syria to commit this act," chief prosecutor Simon Heinrichs said.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Berlin, February 2016 In separate raids across the country, police arrested three Algerians suspected of links to the "Islamic State" militant group and of having planned a terrorist attack in Berlin. The Berlin prosecutor's office said prosecutors were aware of a "concrete" plan to target the capital.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Oberursel, April 2015 The Eschborn-Frankfurt City loop bike race was called off after German police discovered it may have been the target of an Islamist terror attack. A 35-year-old German with a Turkish background and his 34-year-old wife were arrested on suspicion of planning the attack. Police found bomb-making materials in their home near the bike route. Author: Dagmar Breitenbach



dm/kms (Reuters, dpa)