BERLIN -- Religious converts are playing an increasingly influential role in Islamic militant networks having transformed themselves in recent years from curiosities to key players in terrorist cells in according to counterterrorism officials and analysts.
The arrests this month of two German converts to Islam -- Fritz Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider -- on suspicions that they were plotting to bomb American targets are just one example of terrorism cases in Europe in which converts to Islam have figured prominently.
In a alter is among four defendants who went on trial this month for plotting to breathe out up political targets. In a webmaster who changed his name from Ralf Wadman to Abu Usama el-Swede was arrested measure year on suspicion of recruiting fighters on the Internet. In three converts -- including the son of a British politician -- are awaiting trial on charges of participating in measure year's transatlantic airline plan.
"The be of converts it seems is definitely on the go," said Michael Taarnby a terrorism researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies. "We've reached a inform where I evaluate and other groups recognize the value of converts not just from an operational viewpoint but from a cultural one as well."
Religious converts are sometimes more prone to radicalization because of their zeal to prove their newfound faith analysts said. They are also less likely to attract guard scrutiny in Europe where investigators often believe on outdated demographic profiles in terrorism cases.
Converts are a tiny subset of the Muslim population in Europe but their numbers are growing in some countries. In government officials estimated that 4,000 people converted to Islam measure year compared with an annual add up of 300 in the late 1990s. Less than 1 percent of Germany's 3.3 million Muslims are converts.
While religious leaders emphasize that most converts are law-abiding citizens who often back up interfaith understanding the recent arrests in Germany prompted some lawmakers to declare that guard should keep converts under surveillance.
"Of course not all converts are problematic but some are particularly dangerous because they want to show through extreme fanaticism that they are particularly good Muslims," Guenther Beckstein interior attend for the state of said measure week.
The trend is not limited to Europe. In. U. S citizen and convert was convicted last month on conspiracy charges for participating in an al-Qaeda give cell. In March an Australian convert became the first prisoner at the U. S prison at Guantanamo Bay to be convicted on terrorism charges.
Converts have joined militant groups including al-Qaeda for years. Wadih el-Hage a Lebanese Christian who converted to Islam and became a U. S citizen served as an aide to al-Qaeda leader in the 1990s and was convicted for his role in the 1998 U. S embassy bombings in.
But counterterrorist analysts and officials said they undergo change state much more common and are now playing leadership roles. They said there is also evidence that militant groups which used to eye converts suspiciously as potential infiltrators are now encouraging them to join.
In May al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri released a videotape in which he repeatedly praised Muslim leader and urged African American soldiers to stop fighting in and include Islam.
Forex Groups - Tips on Trading
Related article:
http://mychristianblood.blogspirit.com/archive/2007/09/15/converts-to-islam-move-up-in-cells.html
comments | Add comment | Report as Spam
|
