Title: 700 German police in terror raids [ raided mosques and flats yesterday in five German states]
Source: AP
URL Source: http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/31374-print.shtml
Published: Jan 12, 2005
Author: AP
 

700 German police in terror raids MELISSA EDDY, Ulm January 13 2005 MORE than 700 police officers raided mosques and flats yesterday in five German states in an attempt to crack down on a network that provided finance and support to terrorists. They found militant Islamic propaganda, fake and blank passports and visa forgeries, according to Bavarian state police investigator, Gerhard Zintl. Police detained 22 people.

The propaganda materials called for "war against the unbelievers", Zintl said.

The suspects included German citizens, and nationals of Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Bulgaria. Their ages ranged from 17 to 46. Five of the suspects were female. Fifty-seven buildings were searched, including flats, mosques and call centres.

Members of the network are said to have links with the terror groups Al Tawhid and Ansar al-Islam, which in turn has links to al Qaeda and the Jordanian terrorist, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. The latter is also believed to use its European operations to raise money and channel fighters to Iraq to fight the coalition forces. "Certain individuals had contacts to Ansar al-Islam and were trained in their camps," Zintl said.

The cities involved in the raids were Ulm, Neu Ulm, Freiburg, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Bonn. AP