Police and prosecutors raided the Berlin home of freelance journalist Bruno Schirra on September 12 and confiscated his entire research archive. The Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) began investigating Schirra after he profiled al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the April edition of the Potsdam monthly Cicero. Authorities claimed that al-Zarqawi's mobile phone number, included in the story, came from a classified BKA document. Schirra said the telephone number was revealed during a 2003 terrorism trial in Germany. Prosecutors accused Schirra of aiding a BKA official in violating secrecy laws. The journalist faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

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