| 2007 bomb plot in Germany | |
|---|---|
| Location | Medebach,North Rhine-Westphalia,Germany |
| Target | Ramstein Air Base,Frankfurt Airport and other public locations |
Attack type | Car bombing,mass murder (attempted) |
| Weapons | Hydrogen peroxide and military-gradedetonators |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Perpetrators | Fritz Gelowicz, Attila Selek, Daniel Schneider, Adem Yilmaz |
In 2007, a bomb plot planned across variousGerman states by theal-Qaeda-controlled[1]Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) affiliatedSauerland terror cell (German:Sauerland-Gruppe,lit. 'Sauerland Group') was discovered following an extensive nine-month investigation involving more than 600 agents.[2] The number of agents involved in a counterterrorism operation led by the federal police had never been the case before. At the same time,Danish police inCopenhagen were busy with explosives. APakistani and anAfghan man have been charged with preparing to carry out their attacks under al-Qaeda plans. Authorities said they were unaware of any direct links between the terrorists arrested in the twoEuropean countries.[3] Three men were arrested on 4 September 2007 while leaving a rented cottage[4] in the Oberschledorn district ofMedebach,Germany where they had stored 700 kg (1,500 lb) of ahydrogen peroxide-based mixture and 26 military-gradedetonators,[5][6] and were attempting to buildcar bombs.[7] A supporter was arrested inTurkey. All four had attended an IJU-training camp in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2006.[2] They were convicted in 2010 and given prison sentences of varying lengths;[8] all have since been released.[9][10][11]
Two of the perpetrators were German converts toIslam fromChristianity,[12] and two wereGerman-Turks. In 2006, all four attended aparamilitary training camp run by theIslamic Jihad Union inWaziristan.[2]
The perpetrators were primarily motivated by stronganti-Americanism fuelled by interaction with extremists inside Germany,Saudi Arabia andPakistan, and their radicalization increased after the2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.[13]
Fritz Gelowicz (born 1979) was considered the leader of the plot.[14][15] He was born inMunich and moved toUlm with his parents and brother at the age of 5. He was raised in anupper middle class family where his father was asolar heating salesman and his mother was anurse.[16][17] His parents separated when he was 15, and Gelowicz remained with his father. He converted to Islam between the ages of 15–18 while attending theMultikulturhaus inNeu-Ulm, and used the nameAbdullah.[14] TheMultikulturhaus, with its radical sermons, was at the time one of the mainSalafist centers in Germany; it was closed in 2005.[2]
He enrolled to study engineering atUlm University where he joined an extremist Islamist study circle, which regularly met atCafé Istanbul. Members of the study group legitimized the killing of Jews, Christians and infidels. Gelowicz was also a member of extremist circles based at theMultikulturhaus inNeu-Ulm.[13]
Gelowicz lost interest in his engineering studies and took an 18-month break from the University. During the break, he tookArabic language courses inEgypt andSyria as well as religious courses inSaudi Arabia. He also took part in thehajj toMecca. According to U.S. authorities, Gelowicz trained at camp belonging to theIslamic Jihad Union intribal areas of Pakistan.[13]
He was married in January 2007, to aGerman-Turkish woman.
Seven lesser figures were also being hunted. Only five are known by name. The other two have been identified by aliases. Four of the ten suspects (including Yilmaz) have been identified as Turkish.[19]
The suspects had been under observation since October 2006, when theNSA had intercepted communications between them and IJU and alerted German authorities.[2] At the end of 2006, Fritz Gelowicz was spotted suspiciously observing a US Army base inHanau.[20] The suspects had rented a vacation house in the remote town of Oberschledorn, where they amassed 700 kg (1,500 lbs) ofhydrogen peroxide, and military-gradedetonators from Syria.[21]
A 20 July conversation between two suspects mentioned targeting "a disco filled with American sluts," as well asRamstein Air Base andFrankfurt Airport.[22]
A phone call from northern Pakistan in late August is purported to have set a 15 September deadline for the group's attacks.[22] The group was aware that they were being watched by police, one member even slashing an unmarked police car's tires while stopped at an intersection.[22]
A routine traffic stop by police not involved in the investigation led to the officers mentioning that the drivers were on a federal watchlist, a comment that the suspects overheard (as was recorded by covert listening devices installed by German authorities in their rented car). This led to an unscheduled raid on their cottage on 4 September 2007.[22] The men were preparing to move the chemicals by van when they were arrested outside the home. There was a minor scuffle and one of the men shot aGerman police officer in the hand before being subdued.[23]
The solution containing 35% hydrogen peroxide[24] had been purchased legally.[25] Authorities who were observing the group surreptitiously replaced it with a harmless 3% solution at the end of July 2007.[26] The Pakistani terror camps had reportedly trained their members to make bombs using peroxide as it was easy to procure, and unlikely to rouse suspicion.[27] The hydrogen peroxide was to be concentrated by being heated, and then mixed with flour.[28] It was found later that many of the 26 military detonators the group had purchased would not have worked.[28]
Three usedvans had also been purchased inFrance, and brought into Germany, possibly to be the carriers for the bombs.[4]
U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush, after being briefed on the arrests, expressed his appreciation to the German authorities, saying that serious potential terrorist attacks had been prevented.[1] The authorities did not find a direct link between the cases in Germany and Denmark, but in both cases they also found material for bomb-making in addition to the suspected links with al-Qaeda. Both German and Danish suspects used theInternet to try to communicate with their Pakistani network.[3]
Tougher terror legislation was proposed by GermanJustice MinisterBrigitte Zypries. The new laws would make it illegal to train and/or obtain substances for an attack. The proposed penalty would be up to ten years in prison.[29]
G., S., Y., and S. went on trial in Germany on 22 April 2009. The suspects confessed. They were sentenced in March 2010.[8]
The authorities did not find a direct link between the cases in Germany and Denmark, but in both cases they also found material for bomb-making in addition to the suspected links with al-Qaeda. Both German and Danish suspects used the Internet to try to communicate with their Pakistani network.[3]
The perpetrators were primarily motivated by strong anti-Americanism fuelled by interaction with extremists inside Germany,Saudi Arabia andPakistan and their radicalization increased after the2003 invasion of Iraq.[13]
People listed initalics have died. | |
| Allegedal-Qaeda members | |
| Hamburg cell(September 11 attacks) | |
| Held inGuantanamo Bay | |
| Wrongly accused | |
| 2006 train-bombing plot | |
| 2007 bomb plot |
|
1 Currently imprisoned. 2 Released after serving sentence. | |
