Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Europeans Fear That the Threat From Radical Islamists Is Increasing
nytimes ^ | Dec. 8 2002 | ELAINE SCIOLINO and DESMOND BUTLER

Posted on 12/08/2002 5:43:32 PM PST by dennisw

December 8, 2002

Europeans Fear That the Threat From Radical Islamists Is Increasing

By ELAINE SCIOLINO and DESMOND BUTLER

PARIS, Dec. 7 — Political leaders and police investigators across Europe have concluded that the threat of terrorism from Al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups is more serious than they had earlier assumed and may take years to neutralize.

Recent recorded messages attributed to Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, that cite Europe as a target have prompted politicians to put the continent on alert. Recent arrests in Europe, particularly in France and the Netherlands, have underscored the extent of the problem. Testimony at trials of suspected Qaeda members in the Netherlands and Germany has suggested the global reach of Mr. bin Laden's terrorist organization.

The holiday season has contributed to the edginess. In France, the prime minister announced on Thursday that he was mobilizing "the entirety of state services" to combat potential attacks and the Interior Ministry said it would double the size of its antiterrorism unit to 800 soldiers and reinforce its police and undercover force.

Senior European officials dealing with terrorism say that recent investigations have uncovered surprisingly well-established networks of Muslim militants with potential to commit terrorist acts and affiliations that stretch across Europe to operatives in North America, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. But in the absence of hard intelligence pointing to a specific threat, the officials disagree sharply over the extent to which Europe is actually more vulnerable to terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. There are suspicions among counter-terrorism experts that politicians and law-enforcement investigators may be exaggerating the threat in order to appear vigilant in the eyes of the public and to cover themselves should an attack occur.

Jean-Louis Bruguière, France's senior investigative judge dealing with terrorism, is among those who insist that Europe is at greater risk. "There is a probability of an attack in Europe in the coming months," he said. "The threat is much wider than Al Qaeda. It is like a spreading cancer. There is no structure, absolutely none."

Pedro Rubira, the Spanish High Court prosecutor dealing with terrorist cases, is similarly alarmed. "Arrests might shut down a cell, but it's impossible to destroy it completely," he said in an interview.

European investigators have said that Islamic terrorists are often hardly different from small-time racketeers turned radical, who get money from the sale of contraband and form into small, mobile units. But some terrorism experts say that portrayals of the threat in Europe are being shaped by politics.

"Historically, we French are in the camp of skeptics when it comes to terrorism," said one senior French official. "On the one hand we have the same intelligence we've had for some time that something big may happen in the heart of Europe. On the other hand, we have a turn to the right in this country, and we don't want to appear to be taking the threat less serious than President Bush or Tony Blair."

Officials are concerned that Europe is increasingly vulnerable. For example, an October audio broadcast by Mr. Zawahiri on Al Jazeera, the satellite channel based in Qatar, specifically linked the threat to the April attack that killed German tourists outside a mosque in Tunisia and the suicide bomb in Karachi, Pakistan, that killed 11 French engineers.

"The young holy warriors have already sent messages to Germany and France," he said. "However, if these doses are not enough, we are prepared with the help of God to increase the dosage." That warning prompted officials throughout Europe to sound the alarm.

Prime Minister Blair urged Britain to steel itself in the face of new threats, warning that the war on terror does not come "without a price."

On Friday, Germany's interior minister, Otto Schily, said the threat of terrorism in Germany was as great now as it had ever been since the Sept. 11 attacks. He warned that plots against soft targets like tourist destinations were hard to anticipate. "We cannot protect every hotel," he said. His comments contrasted with the statements of German officials after the Sept. 11 attacks that Germany and Europe as a whole served primarily as a sanctuary where terrorists could make use of relaxed asylum laws and generous welfare systems.

German investigators have concluded now that Germany itself is a target. Citing American intelligence, the Germans said there were six regional commanders around the world. They identified the coordinator for attacks on Europe as Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian who is one of the most sought-after fugitives linked to Al Qaeda.

A senior French official, however, questioned how well-organized Al Qaeda is, saying, "I do not believe that Al Qaeda has the logistical power for this level of organization after being driven out of the camps in Afghanistan."

Last year, German and other European officials criticized as meaningless and misleading the tendency of American authorities to issue repeated warnings of possible attacks. But in recent weeks, senior German and French officials have sounded similar alerts.

"The call to action by Al Qaeda's leadership was a signal to the holy warriors and individual assailants worldwide to attack with or without Al Qaeda's support," said Hans-Josef Beth, head of the German Federal Intelligence Service's international terrorism division.

In recent weeks, France has opened a special judicial inquiry to investigate connections between radicals in Europe, and particularly France, and Chechnya, the breakaway Russian region locked in a bitter war with Moscow.

The inquiry, the first of its kind since a 1995 examination of links between France and Afghanistan, gives Judge Bruguière and his colleagues the right to make arrests, interrogate suspects, tap phones and even indict people without evidence.

"If I think an arrest or a search is urgent, I can order it done immediately on my own authority," he said. "I can decide whether to tap someone's phone. This gives me an operational ability to react that doesn't exist in other systems."

The inquiry was opened, Mr. Bruguière said, because, "Chechnya could become the new Afghanistan. It could serve as a new laboratory for attacks as Afghanistan once did."

The terrorism threat has high visibility in France. Last month, France hosted the first major European antiterrorist exercises to simulate radiological and chemical disasters. Last week, a front-page headline in the popular daily Le Parisien read, "Terrorist menace: How France protects itself." Articles included a rundown of how security has been stepped up around Paris.

Even officials who have long denied the presence of Al Qaeda in their midst have begun to change their tune.

In the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, for example, a small, inconspicuous place that does not have a particularly large Muslim population, there have been a series of arrests since early last year of Muslim men suspected of links to Al Qaeda. The most recent arrest came last month, when a 22-year-old Moroccan was held on charges that he was among several Eindhoven residents who had been recruited by Al Qaeda and had prepared "to be sent out to die in international jihad." In December 2001, two young men from Eindhoven were killed by the Indian police in Kashmir. Indian authorities say they were preparing suicide attacks.

Eindhoven's mayor, Rein Welschen, insisted there was no Qaeda cell in his town. But in an interview this week, he said, "It's very hard to say."

Trials under way in several European countries show the wide reach of the network. In the Dutch city of Rotterdam, four men are being tried in a plot to attack the American embassy in Paris. Evidence was presented to show that the men were trained in Afghanistan and that their plans extended across Europe's porous borders.

The main suspect in the case is a 28-year-old French citizen who is accused of providing a fake passport for the Tunisian thought to have been chosen to be the suicide bomber in the plot. The other suspects on trial are two Algerians and a Dutchman of Ethiopian origin.



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Free Republic; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: closethebarndoor; europeans; islamists
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-58 last
To: kaylar
Thanks!! I've bumped it. I think Dalrymple is a superb writer and observer.
41 posted on 12/09/2002 8:34:57 AM PST by Mamzelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Kenny Bunk
For our brothers in Islam, the Religion of Peace, there will be no more "NO FLY ZONES"

Perfect!

42 posted on 12/09/2002 8:46:20 AM PST by null and void
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Alamo-Girl
ping
43 posted on 12/09/2002 11:03:26 AM PST by anymouse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dennisw
PARIS, Dec. 7 — Political leaders and police investigators across Europe have concluded that the threat of terrorism from Al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups is more serious than they had earlier assumed and may take years to neutralize.

I'd say this qualifies for the Homer Simpson D'Oh! award.

44 posted on 12/09/2002 11:21:08 AM PST by AFreeBird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: anymouse
Thanks for the heads up!
45 posted on 12/09/2002 11:22:49 AM PST by Alamo-Girl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Loyalist
Isn't abortion a government/legal issue as opposed to a religious issue? Doesn't Christianity and Judaism forbid abortion, just as Islam does? I thought that the reason abortion is not prevelant in Islamic countries is because the government is ruled by religious leaders, as opposed to that in western countries, which are not strictly tied to religious beliefs. What is communist China's stand on abortion?
46 posted on 12/09/2002 11:37:22 AM PST by stuartcr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: America's Resolve
"The appeaser feeds the crocodile in hopes that it will eat him last. Sometimes, the crock eats him first, anyway."- Winston Churchill
47 posted on 12/09/2002 11:56:18 AM PST by wjcsux
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Alamo-Girl
How about a master list if possible of all Mosques in the United States that are based primarily on or are run by mullah adherents to WAHABI ISLAMISM?

That would be good for starts.

48 posted on 12/09/2002 6:02:48 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: AmericanInTokyo
Thanks for your post!

I imagine the NSA, CIA or FBI already have that information. Hopefully they have coverts in attendance to gain intelligence and bring them down when the time is right.

49 posted on 12/09/2002 8:05:43 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: dennisw
Land for peace! Land for peace!
50 posted on 12/09/2002 8:17:02 PM PST by Nachum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Loyalist
The scalpel of the abortionist is the sword of Islam.

Wow! Your tongue is as sharp as that scalpel......LOL!

51 posted on 12/10/2002 2:58:04 AM PST by lentulusgracchus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: quebecois
Hey, America still has not closed down its borders yet, either.

Good point. Got me there.

52 posted on 12/10/2002 2:59:25 AM PST by lentulusgracchus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: stripes1776
The question is why did the Europeans let this islamic terrorist network establish itself in their countries?

Never attribute a suicidal action by a leftist to planning when simple stupidity and willful blindness work as an explanation.

They didn't want to know about the threat. So they didn't.

53 posted on 12/10/2002 6:50:30 AM PST by WileyC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: headsonpikes
C'est impossible!! They are Frenchmen, surely, not terroristes!!

Heh. As has been said before, the French really, really, reallly need their own Sept. 11th before they'll wake up.

54 posted on 12/10/2002 6:53:50 AM PST by WileyC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Loyalist
The scalpel of the abortionist is the sword of Islam.

Well said, sir. That should be Quote of the Year.

55 posted on 12/10/2002 6:56:58 AM PST by B Knotts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: willyone
To quote Spengler, "A nation that thinks economically does not think." Capitalism is often called creative destruction and I beginning to think that America is just receiving the destruction part.
56 posted on 12/10/2002 6:58:06 AM PST by junta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: WileyC
The French have been getting wake-up calls since at least 1870. ;^)

They are simply too vain to give weight to the actions and intents of others, evidently.
57 posted on 12/10/2002 7:02:09 AM PST by headsonpikes
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: Kenny Bunk
It looks like war-by-proxy; good guys of supreme deity vs. bad guys of the usuper opposition. It is better to absorb and mutate islam rather than allow one square inch of North American to be ruined by WMD. Increased propaganda and pressure to cut off the oxygen of Islam (currency, pederasty, blind-faith and obediance) is the starting poooint - not the end.
58 posted on 12/10/2002 8:36:08 AM PST by Podkayne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-58 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson