German ‘jihad colony’ in Waziristan

[Naveed Yaseen]

* German newspaper says families moving to ‘mujahideen villages’ in Tribal Areas, which are used as bases to attack US and Afghan troops

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The German government is trying to secure the release of a group of suspected German terrorists, arrested by Pakistani authorities while they were on their way to a jihadi colony in Waziristan Agency.

A report in the German newspaper Speigel claimed that entire families from Germany, and Europe, were moving to the region to take part in jihad.

In a recent jihadi video surfacing in Germany, a young speaker, who called himself “Abu Adam”, praises his stay in the mountains. “Doesn’t it appeal to you? We warmly invite you to join us!” Abu Adam said.

The latest recruitment video from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is 30 minutes in length and is addressed to “beloved” brothers and sisters back in Germany.

The video was presented by, among others, Mounir Chouka, alias “Abu Adam”, who grew up in the western German city of Bonn.

The video showed shacks erected against a backdrop of lush greenery and craggy rock formations, with women wearing blue burqas seen surrounded by children, the paper said.

The video appeals seem to be finding fertile ground in Germany.

German security officials believe the IMU is currently the largest and most active Islamic group recruiting in the country. But what was worrying them more was that the terrorists did not usually recruit women and children, as the IMU appeared doing.

Villages: Families are moving to “mujahideen villages” in the Tribal Areas, which are used as bases for supporting the battle against the US troops and the Afghan army, Speigel claimed.

The paper said the German government was also examining the propaganda offensive and for several weeks, diplomats in the German Foreign Ministry have been engaged with Islamabad over the fate of a group of suspected terrorists from Germany’s Rhineland region, who have been held in custody in Pakistan for several months now. The group includes a young Tunisian and six Germans, including Andreas M of Bonn, a Muslim convert, and his Eritrean wife Kerya.

The case has gathered much attention of the German government, as those in custody include the couple’s four-year-old daughter, believed to have suffered in tough conditions since May.

Germany has made several attempts to negotiate a swift return for the mother and daughter at least, but Pakistan has so far refused.

The travellers, which the paper said apparently met each other in a Bonn prayer room, left Germany in several small groups in March and April. “They travelled through Turkey to the Iranian city of Zahedan. Located close to the border with Pakistan, Zahedan is notorious for its jihad tourism — hotels even set aside entire room allotments for radical foreigners making their way to the city,” Speigel said. “From Zahedan, most take taxis to Pakistan. For the group of Germans, though, that’s where the problems started. After crossing the border, the Germans were captured by police and taken to a jail in Peshawar.”

The group claimed they were handled roughly by Pakistani officials, with several claiming they had been beaten as well.

Security officials believe that the goal of Mounir Chouka and the IMU was to strengthen the German “colony” in Waziristan. The detainees also include Chouka’s brother-in-law, the German-Libyan Ahmed K.

Ahmed K’s arrest is now creating problems for the center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) back in Bad Breisig, the German town where he resides. He works as a market analyst at a consulting firm that specialises in the Middle East. The company’s boss, Arnold Joosten, also happens to be the head of the local SPD chapter in Bad Breisig.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_14