Koblenz, Germany - A 63-year-old German businessman who allegedly sold 16 tons of graphite to Iran denied at this trial Wednesday that the substance was to make rocket nozzles.

He told a state superior court in Koblenz, Germany that he rejected all 12 counts of the indictment.

He is accused of breaking laws preventing illicit arms exports by declaring the graphite exported from 2005 to 2007 to be low grade.

This would have avoided the need to apply for a government clearance which would almost certainly have been refused.

Koblenz, Germany - A Pakistan-born man who is accused of raising funds for al-Qaeda remained silent Monday at the start of his trial in Germany.

Prosecutors told the trial in the western city of Koblenz that he had visited a terrorist camp.

The defendant, 46, claimed to police his four trips to the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan between April 2005 and June 2007 had been purely connected to his work as a gem merchant.

He was accused of being a member of a terrorist organization, sending it funds and supplies. The trial is expected to last into next year.

Koblenz, Germany - German inspectors have seized nearly 3 million litres of wine from Italy and Spain in the past year because it contained added glycerine, a food-safety agency said Friday.