State-Wide Raids Target Radical Muslims in Baden-

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