Dusseldorf  - Four alleged members of the Islamic Jihad Union terrorist organisation went on trial in Germany on Wednesday, amidst tight security at the district court in Dusseldorf.

The men at the centre of Germany's biggest terrorism trial in recent years are accused of having planned massive car bomb attacks in cities across Germany.

The four German and Turkish men face charges of belonging to a terrorist gang, conspiring to murder and preparing a crime with explosives, more than 18 months after police arrested the group following months of observation.

One of the men also faces a charge of attempted murder of a policeman for grabbing a police pistol and firing it during the arrest in the village of Oberschledorn.

Two of the "homegrown terrorists" are Germans who converted to Islam, Fritz Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider. One other accused, Adem Yilmaz, is a German of Turkish descent. Police arrested the three men in September 2007 after months of observation.

Also on trial is Atilla Selek, a Turkish citizen alleged to have obtained 26 detonators in Syria for the Islamist plot. (dpa)