Germany Warns Security Situation 'Critical' due to Radical Islam

REUTERS.COM: (Reuters) - Radical Islam poses a critical security threat to Germany, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned on Tuesday, saying the number of people capable of staging attacks in the country stood at an all-time high.

Besides the risk posed by German jihadists returning from Syria, there was also the danger of violent clashes on German streets as rival extremist groups turn on each other - mirroring the conflicts of the Middle East, he told a security conference.

De Maiziere said security forces believed the greatest danger came from radicals striking out alone, as happened in Canada last week, when two soldiers were killed in attacks that police said were carried out by recent converts to Islam.

"The situation is critical. The number of threatening individuals has never been as high as now," he said. "We represent freedom, and are therefore an object of hate."

The domestic intelligence agency (BfV) has warned that ultra-conservative Salafism was becoming increasing popular -- boosting the number of potential recruits for Islamic State. » | Alexandra Hudson and Sabine Siebold | Berlin | Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Fodder for the Front: German Jihadists on Syria's Battlefields
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Jihadists from Germany are engaging in combat, and dying, on the side of the rebels in Syria. Authorities fear the young and inexperienced fighters will be radicalized before they return to Europe, assuming they survive at all.

A young man in his mid-twenties with a stubbly beard is driving a delivery van through the rubble-strewn streets of the northern Syrian town of Azaz. He speaks excellent German and calls himself Yousuf. The man in the passenger seat is around the same age and also sports a beard. He won't even reveal his first name, but he also speaks nearly perfect German.

"After we go back home, we don't want any problems with Germany's foreign and domestic intelligence agencies," says Yousuf. This also explains why the two men refuse to divulge what city in Germany they come from. "Before we entered Syria, the Turks had already put our passport information into their system," he adds. "They know exactly who we are. If they pass that on to the Germans, we're sunk, even though we're just here on a humanitarian mission."

A humanitarian mission? That's the euphemism foreign jihadists use when they try to explain their presence in Syria.

There are reportedly a few hundred Muslims from Western countries who are fighting alongside the rebels to topple Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. It's a relatively small number compared to the perhaps 100,000 insurgents in the country.

"We know that jihadists from Germany, who we have already been observing here at home, are currently in Syria and fighting there," German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said last week. German intelligence agencies are primarily concerned that such men will be trained during the civil war and later return to the West as radicalized extremists -- assuming they survive. » | Kurt Pelda | Tuesday, April 30, 2013

German Jihadists: Officials Fear Return of Syrian War Veterans
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German security officials believe that a number of Germans have teamed up with radical Islamists on the frontlines in Syria. What worries them most are the training and ties they've gained abroad -- and whether they'll continue the jihad once home.

The trail of Ibrahim R. ran cold in March 2013. The young man from the southwestern German town of Pforzheim had already appeared on the radar of the German domestic intelligence agency when he participated in demonstrations with other Salafists in Germany. But then he got on a bus headed for Turkey and disappeared. Authorities suspect he is now fighting in Syria. The police were able to block his first attempt to enter Syria with a group of fellow Muslim extremists. But now they classify him among those who have made their way or are in transit to Syria.

The case of Ibrahim R. is one of many precarious movements being closely followed by German security officials. Though outside the view of the public, the issue has long been treated as a domestic priority. In a SPIEGEL ONLINE interview Thursday, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich officially confirmed for the first time that there were German "jihadists" in Syria. Friedrich particularly expressed concern about "calls for those Europeans who have been trained in battle (in Syria) to return home and pursue jihad." » | Matthias Gebauer and Raniah Salloum | Friday, April 26, 2013