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