His name is Ahmed Huber, 74, a Swiss businessman and journalist living in Bern, who became a muslim in the 1960s. Huber sits on the board of directors of Nada Management, a financial services and consulting company that forms part of the international Al Taqwa group, according to the Times. The U.S. claims this group has long acted as advisers to al-Qaeda. Italian police recently questioned two other Nada Management board members.

A spokesman for Germany's office for the protection of the constitution, the internal intelligence agency, told FT yesterday that Huber "sees himself as a mediator between Islam and right-wing groups." The police claim he has ties to the revisionist movement, which claims the holocaust doesn’t exist.

A spokesman for NPD, a big far-right party in Germany, said Huber often addressed NPD events.

While Huber denies being engaged in any sort of terrorist activity, he told FT that he met associates of bin Laden at a conference in Beirut. The Swiss media quotes Huber as saying, approvingly, these people "are very discreet, well-educated, very intelligent people."