טרוריסטים מוסלמים 'שולחים לוחמים מעירק לאירופה'

גרמניה מודאגת מאיום הטרור החדש על היבשת.

ברלין - קיצונים מואשמים בנסיון להתנקש בחיי ראש ממשלת עירק במהלך ביקורו בגרמניה בחודש שעבר מבריחים טרוריסטים מעירק לאירופה, ומעלים איום טרור חדש על היבשת, כך אמרו בכירי ממשל בגרמניה.

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Jan 11, 2005
Islamic militants 'sending fighters from Iraq to Europe'
Germany voices concern about new terror threat on the continent

BERLIN - EXTREMISTS accused of plotting to kill Iraq's Prime Minister during his visit to Germany last month are smuggling fighters from Iraq to Europe, raising a new terrorist threat on the continent, say German officials.

More than 20 alleged supporters of Ansar Al-Islam, linked to Al-Qaeda and Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, have been arrested in Europe in the past year.

Zarqawi has been accused of leading bloody attacks in Iraq against American forces and their local allies.

Ansar Al-Islam is suspected of spiriting dozens of Muslims to Iraq to join the insurgency.

The arrests of its alleged supporters in Germany highlight concerns that it could pose a menace outside Iraq too.

Acting on intelligence suggesting the group planned to attack Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who was visit- ing Berlin then, police arrested three Iraqis believed to be Ansar Al-Islam members on Dec 3.

Arrest warrants for the three suspects - identified only as Ata R., Mazen H. and Rafik Y. -- were based on wiretaps and intelligence that one of them had apparently cased Berlin locales on Mr Allawi's itinerary.

But investigators found no arms or bomb-making materials, and Mr Allawi's name was never mentioned in the men's coded phone conversations.

About 100 Ansar Al-Islam supporters are in Germany alone, officials say.

Mullah Krekar, the group's spiritual head, has lived for years as a refugee in Norway, and investigators believe that the group has also recruited volunteers in Italy and Britain.

It is believed to have between 500 and 1,000 members.

'It's right up there on the list of threats,' said Mr Michael Ziegler, a spokesman for Bavaria's security authorities.

'The foiled attack on Allawi shows that this group must be considered dangerous also for Europe.'

Ansar Al-Islam was formed in the Kurdish parts of Iraq and is believed to include Arab Al-Qaeda members who fled the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

Its bases along the Iranian-Iraqi border were bombed at the start of the US-led war in Iraq and the group's members scattered, some to Europe, the authorities believe.

How many Europe-based volunteers have gone to fight in Iraq is unclear. But the authorities are tracking the threat of experienced fighters returning to Europe - much like the way others in the past returned from Chechnya.

'If someone is involved in an attack in Iraq, I am virtually 100 per cent convinced that he'll also carry out an attack over here if ordered to do so,' said Bavaria's top state security official, Mr Guenter Beckstein. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Islamic militants 'sending fighters from Iraq to Europe' - Jan 11, 2005
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