Germany had ‘‘no idea’’ a man whose first name and phone number it passed to US authorities long before the 9/11 attacks would turn out to be a key player in the plot, German Interior Minister Otto Schily said on Tuesday. He said a NYT article saying Germany had given the CIA the information about Marwan al-Shehhi in March 1999 was misleading. ‘‘The article was a bit misleading,’’ Schily said. He said any indication that German officials had made a link between the name and an upcoming attack ‘‘is not true. At that time we had no idea that (it) could be a thing like this.’’ He said Germany gave the tip to the US as part of ‘‘routine’’ exchanges. — (Reuters)
