Cablegate: Germany: Country Reports On Terrorism

VZCZCXYZ0017
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRL #3565/01 3551642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211642Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6499

UNCLAS BERLIN 003565

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR S/CT - RHONDA SHORE AND NCTC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC GM
SUBJECT: GERMANY: COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

1. (U) Germany continues to be a strong partner in countering
the global terrorist threat by participating in military
operations overseas, providing leadership in multilateral
settings, and fighting terrorism within its borders. German
cooperation with the United States on the counterterrorism
front remains solid and Germany indicates its readiness to be
an even closer partner in the future. The government led by
Chancellor Merkel took office in November 2005 with a pledge
to improve Germany,s counterterrorism legislation. During
2006 the government enacted several changes. No terrorist
attacks took place in Germany in 2006, although terrorists
planted suitcase bombs that failed to detonate on two German
trains. German authorities also uncovered a plot to smuggle
a bomb aboard an Israeli jetliner. The incidents received
extensive press coverage and were pointed to by German
officials as reasons for Germany to take additional
counterterrorism actions.

2. (U) Germany is a leading contributor of troops to the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan
with nearly 3000 troops deployed. The German Navy is the
lead in the UNIFIL Naval Task Force patrolling the coast of
Lebanon with over 1000 military personnel deployed. The
German Navy also participates in Operation Enduring Freedom
off the Horn of Africa with roughly 330 military personnel
involved. On October 25, a German Ministry of Defense White
Paper outlined that in the future, the international fight
against terrorism would be a central task for the German
military. Germany has resisted sending forces to Iraq, but
has provided equipment and training for the Iraqi military
and training for the Iraqi police in the United Arab Emirates.

3. (U) In 2007 Germany will assume the G8 Presidency and, in
the first half of the year, the EU Presidency as well.
Germany intends to use its position to build further
cooperative mechanisms in international counterterrorism. As
a proponent of G8 counterterrorism initiatives, Germany plans
to use 2007 to advance its objective of addressing
terrorists, misuse of the Internet. In the EU context,
Germany has sought more EU listings of terrorists. In
addition, eight EU member states have agreed to a German
initiative: the May 27, 2005 "Pruem" agreement to deepen law
enforcement cooperation. The agreement enables faster
sharing of car registration, DNA, and fingerprint data.
During its EU Presidency, Germany intends to make the Pruem
text an EU-wide agreement. Germany is active as well in the
Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and in the
Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

4. (U) During 2006 the German government implemented
legislation to strengthen its ability to fight terrorism.
Federal reforms enacted in July grant the Federal Office of
Criminal Investigation broader powers for terrorism
investigations and for preventive arrest of would-be
terrorists. On December 1, the German Bundestag approved two
bills: one creates a unified terrorism database (combining
information from federal and state agencies as well as from
law enforcement and security agencies); the second bill
broadens and simplifies the ability of German security
agencies to obtain travel, financial, and telephone data. In
early 2007, German agencies plan to create an interagency
center to combat terrorist misuse of the Internet.

5. (U) The June 9 - July 9 Soccer World Cup brought millions
of fans from around the world to 64 matches in 12 German
cities. Germany actively sought robust cooperation with law
enforcement officials from neighboring and participating
countries to prevent crime and terrorism. Several U.S.
agencies developed new bilateral cooperative arrangements
with German counterparts. The games were not marred by any
terrorist attacks, but arrests of alleged terrorists in the
subsequent weeks and months revealed that some arrested had
deliberately avoided the World Cup period because of the
perceived thoroughness of German security precautions.

6. (U) During the year, German law enforcement authorities
arrested and investigated numerous individuals suspected of
involvement in terrorism. At the end of 2006, German
authorities were investigating nearly 200 cases of
terrorism-related crimes nationwide. Prominent new actions
and arrests included:

- The November 30 arrest of Algerian national Adel Mechat.
French authorities had released Mechat after he served a six
year prison sentence in France for having planned terrorist
attacks. A French court refused to extradite him to Algeria
late November, but permitted his return to Germany, which had
extradited him to France in 1998. German courts refused his
asylum request and are to decide early 2007 whether to
extradite him to Algeria.

- The November 17 raids and detention of six individuals who
in the summer of 2006 tried to bribe another person to
smuggle a bomb aboard an Israeli aircraft. German
authorities indicated the plot had been at an early stage;
they released all individuals later in the day except for one
who was wanted on another charge.

- The October 10 arrest of an Iraqi for posting al-Qaida and
other terrorist messages on the Internet.

- The August 19 and 25 arrests of a Lebanese and a Syrian
connected with the July 31 planting of two suitcase bombs
aboard German regional trains in Dortmund and Koblenz.
German prosecutors ordered the release of the Syrian on
September 14 due to lack of evidence. German authorities
worked closely with their Lebanese counterparts, who arrested
another individual implicated in the plot.

- The July 6 arrest of a German citizen of Moroccan heritage
charged with recruiting jihadist fighters for battle in Iraq
as well as for fundraising and logistical support for
al-Qaida.

- The June 12 arrest of an Iraqi charged with providing
financial and logistical support for Ansar al-Islam.

7. (U) Additional arrests during 2006 resulted in German
prosecutors charging several with leadership of and
fundraising for the Kurdistan Workers, Party (PKK) and the
Revolutionary People,s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C).

8. (U) During 2006 German courts began trials and/or reached
verdicts in some notable counterterrorism cases. As in
previous years, German laws and traditional procedures, as
well as the courts, long-standing and expansive view of
civil liberties, sometimes limited the success of cases
prosecutors brought to trial:

- On November 16, ruling on an appeal, the Federal High Court
convicted Moroccan citizen and 9/11 Hamburg cell member
Mounir el Motassadeq of both membership in a terrorist
organization and of 246 counts of accessory to murder (246
represents the number aboard the hijacked airliners of 9/11).
German courts convicted Motassadeq in 2003 of membership in
a terrorist organization and accessory to 3,000 murders, but
the Federal High Court subsequently ordered a retrial in 2004
due to the perceived lack of access to potentially
exculpatory testimony from individuals -- such as Khaled
Sheik Mohammed -- whom the court presumed to be in U.S.
custody. In August 2005, a Hamburg court convicted him on
the charge of membership in a terrorist organization, but not
on the accessory to murder charge. The court sentenced him
to seven years in jail. As is possible in Germany, both the
prosecution and the defense appealed. On February 6, 2006
the court released Motassadeq from custody pending the
outcome of the appeal. However, police re-arrested
Motassadeq on November 17, 2006 -- the day after the Federal
High Court,s guilty verdict. Motassadeq returns to the
Hamburg court in January 2007 for sentencing on the accessory
charge; he also intends to appeal the guilty verdict.

- On July 14, German prosecutors closed their investigation
of Syrian-German dual national Mamoun Darkazanli. In October
2004, German authorities arrested for him for extradition to
Spain, where a 2003 arrest warrant accuses him of membership
in al-Qaida and providing it logistical and financial
support. German authorities hoped to extradite him using the
new EU arrest warrant, which enabled Germany to extradite its
own citizens. In July 2005, however, the German
Constitutional Court voided the German law implementing the
EU arrest warrant, criticized its lack of protections for
German nationals, and ordered Darkazanli released. The
Justice Ministry redrafted the law taking the court,s
concerns into account; the new law went info effect August 2.
German authorities have not arrested Darkazanli for
extradition under the new German law.

- On June 20, a Stuttgart court began the trial of three
Iraqi alleged members of Ansar al-Islam: Ata Abdoulaziz
Rashid, Rafik Mohamad Yousef, and Mazen al-Hussein. German
prosecutors have charged the three, who have been in
detention since December 2004, with a plot to assassinate
former Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi during his visit to Berlin
that month. Prosecutors also charged them with financial
crimes, and membership in, financing, and recruiting for a
foreign terrorist organization. The court is to reach a
verdict in early 2007.

- On May 9, a Dsseldorf court began the trial of one Iraqi
(Ibrahim Mohamed Khalil) and two Palestinian defendants
(brothers Yasser Abu Shaweesh and Ismail Abu Shaweesh)
accused of membership in and/or support of Ansar al-Islam,
insurance fraud, and attempted procurement of enriched
uranium for a "dirty bomb." The three have been in German
custody since their arrests in January and May 2005. The
court is to reach a verdict in early 2007.

- On January 12, a Bavarian court convicted Iraqi citizen
Lokman Amin Mohammed of membership in Alsar al-Islam and
Ansar al-Sunna, providing them financial and logistical
support, and smuggling jihadist fighters into Iraq. He was
sentenced to seven years in jail.

9. (U) The German Interior Ministry uses its authority under
the Law on Associations to ban organizations that it believes
are connected to terrorism. Germany has banned a number of
such organizations in recent years, including the DHKP-C, Dev
Sol, Hizb-ut Tahrir, the PKK, and organizations connected
with Hamas. On January 25, a German court rejected an appeal
of the ban against Hizt-ut Tahrir.

10. (U) Germany participates in several Department of
Homeland Security programs to combat terrorism, including the
Container Security Initiative in the ports of Hamburg and
Bremerhaven. The Transportation Security Administration,s
presence in Frankfurt, together with U.S. and German air
marshals, formed key parts of bilateral efforts to provide
air transport security for the six German airports with
flights to the United States.

11. (U) Embassy Point of Contact: Mark Koumans,
koumansm@state.gov, (49)(0)(30)8305-22321
KOENIG

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