Posted on 12/13/2002 4:07:07 PM PST by knighthawk
BERLIN (AP) — Police in southwestern Germany raided three Islamic organizations Friday suspected of forging passports and other papers for use in extremist activities. Several people were detained.
Thomas Schaeuble, the top security official in Baden-Wuerttemberg state, said the raids were a preventive measure.
Islamic extremists have been known to use false papers during trips to countries such as Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said.
``There was concrete information that certain Islamic meeting places were used to supply people with false papers,'' he said.
``We have to assume that these people were using these forgeries in order to operate in Islamic extremist networks and escape surveillance by security agencies.''
Police concluded that forged passports and identity cards were being distributed at organizations in three cities in the state — Mannheim, Stuttgart and Freiburg, Schaeuble said.
Several people were detained for questioning.
None of the organizations, the Stuttgart-based Islamic Community in Germany, the Islamic Workers Union of Mannheim and the Islamic Union in Freiburg, could immediately be reached for comment.
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