Treasury Designates Members of German IJU Terrorist Cell

TREAS.GOV - THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY ^ | December 4, 2008 | n/a

[Cindy]

PRESS RELEASE SNIPPET - QUOTE:

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Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated three members of a German Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) cell under Executive Order 13224 (E.O. 13224), which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.

"We commend the vigilant and effective work of German authorities in apprehending this terrorist cell before it could carry out its brutal and horrifying attack plans," said Adam Szubin, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. "In concert with this important law enforcement action, United Nations global sanctions provide a tool of unparalleled scope to disrupt the support lines of this and other al Qaida-affiliated cells."

On September 4, 2007, German authorities arrested three members of a German IJU cell--Fritz Martin Gelowicz, Daniel Martin Schneider, and Adem Yilmaz--on suspicion that they were preparing terrorist attacks on public places and possibly U.S. military facilities in Germany. German authorities had monitored the three for months and arrested them when they advanced the plot to the point of building explosive devices. The suspects had acquired 735 kilograms of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide--enough to produce approximately 550 kilograms of explosives--in order to build bombs.

German authorities also found military detonators, apparently intended for use in car bombs. Had the attacks occurred, estimates show the casualty toll could have far exceeded the 2004 train bombings in Madrid or the 2005 transport bombings in London.

Following the arrests, IJU leadership issued a statement confirming that Gelowicz, Schneider and Yilmaz had been operating under IJU direction in plotting the attacks. According to the statement, the terror plot was intended to hit U.S. and Uzbek targets in Germany.

Gelowicz reportedly played a key role in the Germany plot by purchasing the chemicals necessary for the attacks. In addition, Gelowicz allegedly was part of a group of IJU members who cased U.S. military facilities in Hanau, Germany in December 2006. Gelowicz and others reportedly were observed driving back and forth in front of the U.S. military base in Hanau.

The IJU, formerly known as the Islamic Jihad Group (IJG), is a terrorist organization that has coordinated multiple attacks in Central Asia, including the July 2004 bombings of the U.S. and Israeli Embassies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The IJG was added to the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee's Consolidated List of individuals and entities associated with Usama bin Ladin, al Qaida and the Taliban on June 1, 2005 and Gelowicz, Schneider, and Yilmaz were added to the Consolidated List on October 27, 2008. The IJG was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to E.O. 13224 on May 25, 2005.

Under E.O. 13224, any assets these three individuals hold under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the designees. "

[Cindy]

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