Islamic extremists accused of plotting to kill Iraq's prime minister in Germany are smuggling battle-hardened fighters from Iraq to Europe, raising a potential new terrorist threat on the continent, according to German officials. More than 20 alleged supporters of Ansar al-Islam have been arrested in Europe in the past year as authorities move against the group, which has links with al-Qaeda and Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been leading bloody attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq. Ansar al-Islam is suspected of spiriting dozens of fired-up young Muslims to Iraq to join the insurgency, but the latest raids in Germany - the most spectacular yet against the group - heightened concerns that the organization also could pose a menace outside Iraq.
Acting on intelligence suggesting the group planned to attack Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in Berlin, police on Dec. 3 arrested three Iraqis believed to be Ansar al-Islam members. Arrest warrants for the three plot suspects - identified only as Ata R., Mazen H. and Rafik Y. - were based on wiretaps and intelligence that one of them apparently cased Berlin locales on Allawi's itinerary. But investigators have turned up no weapons or bomb-making materials, and Allawi's name was never mentioned in the men's coded telephone conversations. A top security official in Hamburg, Heino Vahldieck, said German authorities were right to strike quickly despite what appears to be the lack of hard evidence. Prosecutors are preparing charges of belonging to a terrorist group against the three men. ``You can wind up waiting too long once too often,'' Vahldieck said.
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 also has recruited volunteers in Italy and Britain. Estimates of its total membership range between 500 and 1,000. ``It's right up there on the list of threats,'' said Michael Ziegler, a spokesman for Bavarian security authorities. ``The foiled attack on Allawi shows that this group must be considered dangerous also for Europe.'' |