Posted on 11/07/2005 9:39:52 AM PST by BurbankKarl
BERLIN, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Berlin authorities believe arson attacks that damaged five cars on Sunday night were set by copycats of the violence in France and were not organised, Berlin Interior Minister Ehrhart Koerting told Reuters.
Koerting, who is responsible for the police in the German capital, said he did not believe Berlin would be hit by the level of violence that has plagued France for the last 11 nights. Nevertheless, he said police would reinforce their patrols.
"We assume that these were copycats who are taking advantage of the situation in France to do the same thing here," Koerting said in an interview. He said, however, he could not imagine the attacks spreading the way they have in France.
"I believe we have a sufficient social security network here for immigrants that prevents anyone from falling into any level of despair," Koerting said. "As a result, I think there are no reasons for the situation among the immigrants to erupt here."
But Koerting, whose police force has struggled each year to contain annual May Day riots in the Kreuzberg district south of the government quarter, said that did not mean Berlin was immune to violence.
"That doesn't rule out that we also have problems here, which are by the way not caused by immigrants but rather in general by the unemployed," Koerting said.
He said police had no clues about the assailants behind the arson attacks on the five cars in the Moabit district just north of the government district.
"It would be grossly negligent to say now that these were Turks or Arabs," he said. "That would wrongly cause ostracism. He said there were no indications that Muslims in Berlin were using the French turmoil for attacks in Berlin.
"I don't have any indications of that," he said. "I have the impression that the Muslims who live in Germany and in Berlin are quite comfortable and thus don't have any reason to contribute to a partial destruction of this system.
"I think the immigrants and immigrant organisations also know that we take their concerns seriously," he added.
How unfortunate for them to consider this an isolated criminal problem.
Sounds like famous last words to me.
From what I have been told, there are not many muslims in Germany and they do an annual car burn on May 1st for labor day.
Harley Fisher! Are you coying again?
It is - for now. There´s no movement yet, and Germany has not as many huge ghettos. There´s not that much "frustration", but it could develop within a year or so.
> copycats
Oh - then I guess it's ok.
Do you mean the the Muslim's are behind this?
What a revelation. I just thought it was errant youths. /sarcasm
Better call CNN and Fox with this.
Stay safe. I'm not so sure it's all about "frustration." They found bomb factories in France that they said looked more sophisticated--just repeating what I read on another thread here. I think the goal (think? Heck, it's been stated by Islamic militants often enough) is to make Europe, all of it, Islamic.
When you assume, you make an ass out of U and me.
Au cointraire, this is a Muslim Holy War against Infidels - learn it, live it, love it.
"assume" - keyword!
In 1992 Chiric also rather smugly claimed that their wonderful social system would preclude riots as then occurring in the US
The Germans know better than that. Sounds like they're just playing up to the media with their own variation of the "Religion of Peace" crapola.
The stupidity of socialist is just mindbogglingly. I have just one word for you.....islam.
People really aught to read the koran.
I have no doubt that there are several hundreds better organized Islamic groups that can be considered terroristic. But I doubt that more than 10% of the criminals view this as an Islamic terrorist operation.
Right. "It can never happen here."
How unfortunate it is that they continue to believe it's a "social security network" problem in France, rather than the Islamic problem it is.
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