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| Europe |
| 3-5,000 potential suicide boomers in Germany |
| 2005-09-13 |
| Germany is home to between 3,000 and 5,000 potential Islamic suicide attackers, a senior security official touted as the country's next interior minister has been quoted as saying. Guenther Beckstein, currently interior minister in the German state of Bavaria, said on Monday in an interview with the online Netzeitung newspaper that he was worried small cells of "fanatics" could prepare attacks without detection. "In Germany we have between 3,000 and 5,000 of these Islamists who are prepared to use violence and do not shrink from suicide attacks," Beckstein was quoted as saying. He said they included individuals who are ready to fight in Iraq and Chechnya. Beckstein is widely tipped to become federal interior minister, the country's top security post, if opposition conservatives win Sunday's parliamentary elections. Beckstein, a member of the conservative Bavaria-only Christian Social Union, argues that security laws toughened after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States are still too soft. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 Better err on the side of caution. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-09-13 18:51 |
| #4 Well, maybe he is basing his statistics on those who have applied for police permits to become registered suicide bombers. It is German law, you know. They have a law for everything. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-09-13 16:47 |
| #3 There's 10,000 dead in New Orleans alone, too. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-09-13 11:15 |
| #2 I note that these figures are being cited by officials in Bavaria, who have deported at least 14 radical clerics in the last year or so. I also note that these officials are willing to discuss the potential problem without the religion of peace gobbledygook. Good work TGA. Please let Mr. Beckstein know he has some fans in the US. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-09-13 11:10 |
| #1 Germany is home to between (Zero and Population of Germany) potential Islamic suicide attackers. Sounds like a "Duh" moment, make up a figure, then blare it loudly untill believed. "Animal Farm" anyone? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-09-13 10:57 |