The five men who stormed the Iraqi embassy in Berlin on Tuesday were remanded in custody after appearing in court yesterday.
A court spokeswoman declined to say what charges the men face, but said they are all asylum seekers between the ages of 32 and 43. One of the men has lived in Germany since last year, the other four arrived in March.
All five members of a group calling itself the Democratic Iraqi Opposition of Germany took over the Iraqi embassy for five hours calling for the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Little is known about the organisation, even among established Iraqi opposition parties: some reports describe it as "an obscure splinter group", others have never heard of the organisation.
The aim of the raid was to protest at German opposition to a US-led strike on Iraq that could topple Saddam Hussein, an unnamed Iraqi opposition source told Reuters news agency yesterday.
The source added that the group consisted of former Iraqi soldiers and Kurds, however Berlin police declined to comment on the matter.
"Details about their motives, what made them do it and their background, whether political or commercial, are purely speculative," said Mr Martin Textor, the leader of the German commandos who stormed the embassy in a lightning raid, ending the stand-off peacefully after five hours.
One member of the group said it had 20 members, "symbolic of the 20 million Iraqi people suffering under Saddam Hussein". He told a German news network by telephone, while still inside the embassy, that the group's aim was "to free Baghdad".
Special forces raided the building at 7.40 p.m. on Tuesday, disarming one man who was carrying a loaded 8mm Czech handgun. The other men were carrying two tear gas pistols, an electric stunner and a hatchet.
The armed men held the staff hostage for five hours in the embassy, a villa in the Berlin suburbs. Garden staff said they saw the hostage-takers slam the doors shut and heard shots inside. Police found two bullet holes in the ground floor ceiling of the villa yesterday.
