Germany Arrests 2 in Terrorism Investigation as Europe Braces for Potential Attacks

[Rhinodawg]

Source: NYT

As Europe braces against potential terrorist attacks after violence in France and Belgium, the German police on Friday arrested two Turkish men suspected of having links to an organization supporting the militant Islamic State and other radical groups fighting in Syria.
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In Paris, where Secretary of State John Kerry met with Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and then with President François Hollande, news reports said that 10 suspects had been questioned overnight about last week’s attacks.

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The Belgian raids were said to have been aimed at people who had joined Islamic extremist groups in Syria or other battle zones, and then returned to Europe — a potential threat that has consumed intelligence and security services since well before the Paris attacks.

In Germany, prosecutors said that 250 officers had raided 11 apartments after months of tracking a group that was said to support the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, with money and the recruitment of combatants. Both of the arrested men were Turkish citizens, and they are formally suspected of planning a serious attack in Syria and of money laundering.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/17/world/europe/europe-arrests-terrorism-links.html

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unbelieveable.

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1. Overnite raids in France, Belgium and now Germany.

supposedly these are people who were in Syria.

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2. And in other news..Merkel Says Terrorists Commit ‘Blasphemy’

Terrorists killing people in the name of God are committing blasphemy, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday, calling on Islamic leaders to clarify the relationship between their religion and the militants who claim to act in its name.

In a declaration to Germany’s lower house of parliament on last week’s terror attacks in Paris and underlining previous comments on the importance of national unity, Ms. Merkel said terrorist actions are probably the result of a certain interpretation of religion “that assumes being allowed to act, punish, kill on God’s behalf.”

“But for me, this is nothing but blasphemy. Terrorists’ actual motivation is in their conviction that they stand above others because they believe they are God’s representative, because they mean to have a historic mission, because they are convinced that they stand above others due to their faith, origin, descent, sex.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/germanys-angela-merkel-says-terrorists-commit-blasphemy-1421323114