Germany foils Jihadist bomb plot

By Jeffrey Imm

Media sources have reported today that German police have arrested 3 Jihadists involved in the final stages of an "imminent" bomb plot. The International Herald Tribune reports that the plot was to be "against several sites frequented by Americans, including the busy United States air base at Ramstein and the Frankfurt international airport".

The Jihadists are reported to be two Germans and one Turk. AP reports that officials said that the "three suspects -- two Germans, ages 22 and 28, who converted to Islam, and a 29-year-old Turk -- first came to the attention of authorities because they had been caught observing a U.S. military facility in Hanau, near Frankfurt, at the end of 2006". Der Spiegel reports the men as "Daniel S. from the state of Saarland and Fritz G. from Neu-Ulm in Bavaria... [and].. Adem Y., who is believed to be from Turkey".

IHT reports that:

"They were planning massive attacks," the German federal prosecutor, Monika Harms, said at a news conference, outlining a vast six-month investigation. She said that the suspects had amassed huge amounts of hydrogen peroxide, the main chemical used to manufacture the explosives used in the suicide bombings in London in July 2005. Harms said the two German suspects were converts to Islam who had trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan. They had amassed 1,500 pounds of hydrogen peroxide to make explosives, which they had hidden and were preparing to move when they were arrested on Tuesday afternoon. Officials said they also had military grade detonators.

German federal prosecutor Monika Harms also told a news conference that: "As possible targets ... the suspects named discotheques and pubs and airports frequented by Americans with a view to detonating explosives loaded in cars and killing or injuring many people". According to Harms, the targets were to be hit by the Jihadists detonating a series of car bombs simultaneously. Official stated that the hydrogen peroxide mixed with other bomb chemical would have had the explosive power of 1190 pounds (540 kg) of TNT. German Federal Crime Office's (BKA) chief Joerg Ziercke stated that "this would have enabled them to make bombs with more explosive power than the ones used in the London and Madrid bombings".

German federal prosecutor Monika Harms also stated that the three suspects members were of the Islamic Jihad Union, which has its origins in Uzbekistan. DPA reported that BKA's Ziercke linked the Islamic Jihad Union to al-Qaeda.

CNN reported that BKA's Ziercke stated the three Jihadists suspects were united by a "hatred against American citizens". Daily Mail reported that MP Wolfgang Bosbach speculated that the bombings were planned to coincide with 9/11 attacks anniversary - next Tuesday.

DPA reported that monitoring the suspects required 300 police officers. In May 2007, a German government official stated that 32,000 German Muslims were under surveillance. In May 2007, ABC reported that Col. Andrew Pratt (Ret.) of the George Marshall Center stated that "there are 300 to 500 people who are suspected to be part of al Qaeda cells in Germany". Another report quoted Rolf Tophoven, a leading expert on terrorism in Germany, as telling NTV television that the arrests showed "that the threat to Germany is not abstract and the country has been in the firing line of terrorists for some time".

There has been a terror alert regarding threats to US facilities in Germany since April 20, 2007. On April 20, 2007, the US Embassy in Berlin issued a warning to Americans living in Germany regarding an increased threat of terrorism. ABC reported that in April 2007, U.S. increased security at government facilities following reports that suspected terrorists had conducted surveillance of the Patch Barracks facility.

In May 2007, the German magazine Focus reported that the alert was in regards to five Islamists in Germany - two German converts, and three Germans of Turkish origin, that belonged to the Islamic Jihad Union. Focus also reported in May from police sources that they had filmed valedictory messages by men who intended to die in an attack on a base.

There was also concern that German Jihadists would strike at the G8 summit in June 2007. On May 12, 2007, ABC reported that German authorities detained (and released) two suspects believed to be part of a cell of the Islamic Jihad Union. On May 14, 2007, ABC reported that U.S. Air Marshals were flooding German flights due to concern about increased threat of Jihadist terrorism.

The threat of Jihadist terrorism is not new to Germany, as previously discussed in other postings by Lorenzo Vidino, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, and myself. In May 2006, German federal prosecutor Kay Nehm viewed Germany as a terror threat "powder keg". In May 2006, German authorities thwarted suicide bomb attacks in Iraq by German women. In July 2006 two gas suitcase bombs were placed on German commuter trains but did not explode. Subsequently, it was learned that the suitcase bombers initially planned to attack the World Cup held in Germany. Der Spiegel later reported that the suitcase bombs were placed by Lebanese students Youssef al-Haijib and Jihad Hamad, as a possible initiation test to gain entrance to Al-Qaeda. This summer, DPA reported that Germany indicted Iraqi for spreading al-Qaeda propaganda online, and DPA reported that Germany indicted Lebanese student Youssef al-Haijib for suitcase bomb attempted murder. Six Lebanese men are currently standing trial in Lebanon over the suitcase bomb plot, which targeted trains in western Germany.

Germany foils Jihadist bomb plot

By Jeffrey Imm

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