Concern about Increasing Connections Between Terrorists of Many Nations
Hamburg Germany closed the mosque they say served as a main meeting place for jihadists, including some of the perpetrators of 9/11.
According to Der Spiegel, suicide hijacker Mohamed Atta, a pilot in the attacks who is considered to have coordinated the attackers, was a repeated visitor at the Taiba. The deputy head of Hamburg's regional intelligence agency, Manfred Muck, said at a press conference that the Masjid Taiba mosque served "again and again as a center for radicalization." German authorities said the mosque, located behind Hamburg's main rail station and next to a fitness center, remained a "central attraction for the jihadist scene." A German-Arabic association linked to the mosque has been banned as well. The association has used the mosque to recruit new jihadists (fighters for the Islamic Holy War, the jihad).
The former Al-Quds-Mosque gained worldwide notoriety after the events of 9/11. According to the city-state's intelligence service, the mosque still serves as a meeting ground for radical Islamists. According to the Hamburg Express, "45 Jihadists are supposed to be residing in Hamburg at the moment."
The closing of the Masjid Taiba in Hamburg comes a month after Norwegian police arrested three men accused of involvement with Al Qaeda - a Chinese Uigher, an Iraqi Kurd, and an Uzbek - and charged them with planning to build a peroxide-based bomb.
The former Al-Quds-Mosque gained worldwide notoriety after the events of 9/11. The Hamburg Express reported, "According to the city-state's intelligence service, the mosque still serves as a meeting ground for radical Islamists. 45 Jihadists are supposed to be residing in Hamburg at the moment."
According to the Christian Science Monitor, "One link between the Norwegian arrests and the German mosque shut-down is an ongoing concern by European security officials of the burgeoning transnational character of Islamist thinking and organizations, in which jihadi cadres from various nations are breaking free from old 'national' groupings and working more closely together in causes that are less 'territorial' and more ideological."
The Monitor said that the mosque hosted Moroccans, Bosnians, Saudis, Egyptians and quoted Washington-based expert on Pakistan-Afghan jihad groups that "Every day we hear of a different nationality arrested or killed in Waziristan, Pakistan or Afghanistan -- someone from Uzbekistan, from Yemen, from Egypt, from the Gulf. So you see some ability to project a set of individuals, a united front, anywhere, in which the racial or national background is not important." The Monitor also cited that "various ethnic groups were starting to come together and project themselves abroad under various Islamist or jihad banners, something she characterized as a new development. 'They are being stopped at the moment, but there is a connectivity that is succeeding...a thread that is bonding these individuals in the name of a cause.'"
The U.K. Mirror reported that "German intelligence last year claimed 11 people from the mosque had visited a military training camp in Uzbekistan."
Sources:
Christian Science Monitor (August 10, 2010). Why Germany closed mosque where 9/11 plotters met. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0809/Why-Germany-closed-mosque-where-9-11-plotters-met
Hoen, Marco (August 10, 2010). Hamburg police close mosque used by 9/11 attackers. Epoch Times. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/40697/
Hamburg Express (August 10, 2010). News update: Taiba mosque closed. http://www.thehamburgexpress.com/content/view/1402712/59/
Turnbull, Greig (August 10, 2010). Mosque is shut in new terror alert. U.K. Mirror. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/08/10/mosque-is-shut-in-new-terror-alert-115875-22477255/
Hamburg Germany closed the mosque they say served as a main meeting place for jihadists, including some of the perpetrators of 9/11.
According to Der Spiegel, suicide hijacker Mohamed Atta, a pilot in the attacks who is considered to have coordinated the attackers, was a repeated visitor at the Taiba. The deputy head of Hamburg's regional intelligence agency, Manfred Muck, said at a press conference that the Masjid Taiba mosque served "again and again as a center for radicalization." German authorities said the mosque, located behind Hamburg's main rail station and next to a fitness center, remained a "central attraction for the jihadist scene." A German-Arabic association linked to the mosque has been banned as well. The association has used the mosque to recruit new jihadists (fighters for the Islamic Holy War, the jihad).
The former Al-Quds-Mosque gained worldwide notoriety after the events of 9/11. According to the city-state's intelligence service, the mosque still serves as a meeting ground for radical Islamists. According to the Hamburg Express, "45 Jihadists are supposed to be residing in Hamburg at the moment."
The closing of the Masjid Taiba in Hamburg comes a month after Norwegian police arrested three men accused of involvement with Al Qaeda - a Chinese Uigher, an Iraqi Kurd, and an Uzbek - and charged them with planning to build a peroxide-based bomb.
The former Al-Quds-Mosque gained worldwide notoriety after the events of 9/11. The Hamburg Express reported, "According to the city-state's intelligence service, the mosque still serves as a meeting ground for radical Islamists. 45 Jihadists are supposed to be residing in Hamburg at the moment."
According to the Christian Science Monitor, "One link between the Norwegian arrests and the German mosque shut-down is an ongoing concern by European security officials of the burgeoning transnational character of Islamist thinking and organizations, in which jihadi cadres from various nations are breaking free from old 'national' groupings and working more closely together in causes that are less 'territorial' and more ideological."
The Monitor said that the mosque hosted Moroccans, Bosnians, Saudis, Egyptians and quoted Washington-based expert on Pakistan-Afghan jihad groups that "Every day we hear of a different nationality arrested or killed in Waziristan, Pakistan or Afghanistan -- someone from Uzbekistan, from Yemen, from Egypt, from the Gulf. So you see some ability to project a set of individuals, a united front, anywhere, in which the racial or national background is not important." The Monitor also cited that "various ethnic groups were starting to come together and project themselves abroad under various Islamist or jihad banners, something she characterized as a new development. 'They are being stopped at the moment, but there is a connectivity that is succeeding...a thread that is bonding these individuals in the name of a cause.'"
The U.K. Mirror reported that "German intelligence last year claimed 11 people from the mosque had visited a military training camp in Uzbekistan."
Sources:
Christian Science Monitor (August 10, 2010). Why Germany closed mosque where 9/11 plotters met. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0809/Why-Germany-closed-mosque-where-9-11-plotters-met
Hoen, Marco (August 10, 2010). Hamburg police close mosque used by 9/11 attackers. Epoch Times. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/40697/
Hamburg Express (August 10, 2010). News update: Taiba mosque closed. http://www.thehamburgexpress.com/content/view/1402712/59/
Turnbull, Greig (August 10, 2010). Mosque is shut in new terror alert. U.K. Mirror. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/08/10/mosque-is-shut-in-new-terror-alert-115875-22477255/
