New Terror Threat in EU: Extremists With Passports Local Islamic Youth Join Jihad

The Wall Street Journal ^ | December 27, 2004 | David Crawford and Keith Johnson

[Torie]

New Terror Threat in EU: Extremists With Passports Local Islamic Youth Join Jihad, Presenting Big Challenge for Security Officials; Mr. Azzouz's Wish for His Baby

By DAVID CRAWFORD in Amsterdam and KEITH JOHNSON in Madrid Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL December 27, 2004

In some ways, Samir Azzouz is a typical Amsterdam teenager. He grew up in a working-class neighborhood and attended a Catholic school. The local league soccer games were an important part of his life.

But when he was arrested in June, prosecutors painted a different picture. They say he converted to radical Islam at age 15 and attempted to join the military jihad in Chechnya at 16. A year later, he bought a gun, ammunition, silencer, night-vision equipment and materials that could be used to make a bomb, prosecutors say. Now 18, he is in jail awaiting trial on charges of armed robbery, planning a bomb attack and possession of bomb-making materials.

Mr. Azzouz's lawyer, Victor Koppe, says his client is innocent. "Most of the evidence is simple sketches of public buildings found in a search of my client's apartment," says Mr. Koppe.

Interviews with dozens of investigators, terrorism experts and acquaintances of Mr. Azzouz, as well as access to previously sealed court documents, suggest he may be more than a lone, misguided youth. Prosecutors see him as the face of a new terrorist threat: a homegrown network of young European Islamists dedicated to waging jihad at home.

Until this year, the West's struggle with Islamic terrorism has largely been a battle to stop outsiders from entering and doing harm. But according to European officials, the Continent now finds itself fighting members of its own Muslim communities -- young men like Mr. Azzouz who were born in Europe or moved there at a young age.

[Torie]

Assimilation apparently lacks sufficient traction in Europe. Hopefully, it will prove different in the US. If not, it is going to be highly unfortunate all the way around.

Sorry about the excerpt, but the WSJ is a pay site. This particular kid tried to get into Chechyna to fight there, and then got into theft to raise funds to finance his gathering of the equipment to bomb a bunch of things, and there was a gang he was involved with in Holland that was dedicated to this task. There are also some resident Jihadist Mullahs involved in the story, and this guy from Syria that went to Germany claiming persecution in Syria, but Germany denied his petition for entry, and then he stayed in Germany on welfare for years while appealing the case, spending his time facilitating terror and corrupting the young, including this kid. The guy is now on the lamb in Italy, it is beleived.

Oh yes, Azzouz's wish for his baby daughter is to "join the jihad."

Not a very pretty picture, is it?

[Outland]

Muslims are doing a fine job trashing what little integrity they had to begin with (my opinion and I have a right to it). As well, they're obviously doing nothing to remedy the problem.

Hopefully, this will someday lead to their extinction.

Allah this.

[not2worry]

I believe the bottom line is Germany,France, the Balkans and possibly even the UK are proving that socialism is surely backfiring. Suddenly they got Muslims on the dole and don't know how to stop the gravy train.

Everyone talks about Civil War in Iraq, but me thinks the Europeans are going to get pretty fed up with supporting the influx of Muslims into their Countries....especially when it get to the point of having to give up two or three weeks of their government sponsored 18 weeks of vacation to support the gangs of Jihadist in their own backyards.