VZCZCXRO6993
OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHFT #4083 1641212
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 131212Z JUN 06
FM AMCONSUL FRANKFURT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4951
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS FRANKFURT 004083 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/PGI, S/CT, EB/ESC/TFS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC KISL GM
SUBJECT: State-Wide Raids Target Radical Muslims in Baden- 
Wuerttemberg 
 
REF: A) 2005 Frankfurt 7398 (NOTAL); B) Berlin 1569 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; not for internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On June 1, law enforcement officials throughout 
the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg (B-W) conducted large- 
scale raids in areas they believed were frequented by Muslim 
extremists.  State officials say they obtained no specific 
terrorist-related information, but believe the raids sent a clear 
message to would-be terrorists and supporters in the lead-up to 
World Cup events.  END SUMMARY. 
 
900 People Searched in Police "Shake Up" of Islamicist Scene 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to our contacts within the B-W Interior 
Ministry and their press release, the purpose of the state-wide 
searches on June 1 was to shake up the "Islamicist" (radical 
Muslim) scene in Baden-Wuerttemberg and potentially obtain 
evidence of criminal activity.  Twenty federal police and customs 
officials and 313 state police conducted searches in 23 
cities/counties. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Mr. Oswald from the B-W Interior Ministry told us law 
enforcement officials checked approximately nine hundred persons 
and over four hundred vehicles during the all-day police action, 
resulting in four arrests (mostly on immigration infractions). 
Control points and searches targeted areas police believed to be 
frequented by radical Muslims including Internet cafes, call 
shops, train stations, and NGOs.  The raids netted no specific 
information regarding any potential attacks. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In public comments, B-W Interior Minister Heribert Rech 
(CDU) justified the raids in terms of the long-term disruption of 
the radical Muslim groups and said the state will closely monitor 
extremists during the World Cup.  Rech encouraged the vast 
majority of Muslims not associated with extremists to distance 
themselves from those "whose goal is to prevent the peaceful 
coexistence of cultures and religions." 
 
No Public Comment from Muslim Community 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Unlike last year's raids in Frankfurt/Hesse (ref A), the 
Muslim community did not react publicly to the June 1 raids in 
Baden-Wuerttemberg, which come at a time of enhanced security 
measures prompted by the soccer World Cup.  In the recent annual 
report of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Office for the Protection of the 
Constitution, which monitors extremists, the state emphasized the 
grave danger posed by Muslim extremists and particularly by what 
the report called the growing ranks of "homegrown" radical German 
Muslim elements in the state (report available in German at 
http://www.innenministerium.baden-wuerttember g.de/ 
fm/2028/Anlage_Verfassungsschutzbericht%20200 5.pdf). 
 
¶6. (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
 
AKER