Muslim Extremists Deported from Baden-Wuerttemberg

UNCLAS FRANKFURT 000694 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/PGI, S/CT SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER SMIG ASEC KISL GM SUBJECT: Muslim Extremists Deported from Baden-Wuerttemberg Sensitive but unclassified; not for internet distribution. ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: State authorities deported two Islamic extremists from Baden-Wuerttemberg (B-W) in late January according to reports from the state interior ministry. B-W Interior Minister Rech cites the deportations as evidence of his state's strong anti-extremism efforts. The deportees hail from Algeria and Mauritania. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) On February 1, B-W Interior Minister Heribert Rech announced the deportation of two Muslim extremists on January 24 and January ¶26. Pointing to the deportations as examples of the state's tough stance against Islamic extremism, Rech stated "whoever threatens our security has no place here and must leave Germany as soon as possible." Rech also said that extremists are "enemies of our society and democracy" and that he would use all legal means to fight them. Rech reported that since June 2004 the state has deported six Muslim extremists and another six have left voluntarily. ¶3. (SBU) The B-W interior ministry reports that one of the deportes is an Algerian who had been under investigatin for supporting a terrorist organization and fo possible participation in the attempted attack t a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France in ¶2000. Although the federal prosecutor's investigation of the matter ended in 2005, the interior minisry concluded that the Algerian's continued residncy in Germany presented significant security cocerns, hence the January deportation. The B-W interior ministry also said that earlier attempts to eport the Algerian were unsuccessful due to a lak of appropriate travel documents and because hethen "disappeared" following the conclusion of the investigation in 2005. An "intensive" law enforcement operation led to the Algerian's recent captre in Mannheim; after which he was held in custoy until the January deportation. B-W interior mnistry contacts were unwilling to release the name but confirmed to a consulate representative that the Algerian was associated with the group involed in the attempted Strasbourg attack and had orginally been released due to lack of evidence. . (U) The other deportee is a Mauritanian nationalwho was reportedly an Imam and Koran instructor at the now-banned "Multi-Culutural House" in Neu-Um (Bavaria). In December 2006, Tuebingen (B-W) fficials ordered his deportation. Facing this oder and pressure from the authorities, he departedGermany of his own volition on January 26. ¶5. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. POWELL