Berlin, 31 May (AKI) - German intelligence services in recent weeks have prevented three German women - at least one of whom is reportedly a convert to Islam - from travelling to Iraq on suspicion that they could be involved in suicide bombing missions, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel's online edition has revealed. The women - one of whom is a Muslim convert - apparently have close contacts with Islamist organisations in Germany, the report said, adding that one of them announced on an Internet site that she intended to blow herself and her child up in Iraq. | Just another convert to the Religion of Peace |
According to Online Spiegel the Web posting triggered an intensive search for the three women by Germany's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies. One of them was located in Berlin, the other two are believed to come from southern Germany. The Berlin woman's child was taken away from her and she has been put in a psychiatric clinic. The two other women were also prevented from leaving Germany. One of them is also believed to have a child. It's not clear yet how serious the women were about their claims and how far their plans for an attack had progressed. There has been no official confirmation.
Well-informed sources cited by Online Spiegel said the women have had contacts with sympathisers of Ansar al Islam, a militant group linked to al-Qaeda and suspected of smuggling suicide bombers from Germany to Iraq. The group is also suspected of raising money for the resistance to the US-led forces in Iraq.
There have been several such cases in the past, and German security officials have long been worried that Islamic militants are increasingly recruiting young Muslims with German passports for suicide attacks. There have been numerous reports of foreign suicide bombers active in in Iraq, but these are mostly believed to be militants from Arab countries. Last November a female Belgian convert blew herself up near Baghdad. |