Author:
Publication: Trading Markets.com
Date: September 15, 2007
URL: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/612641/
The lack of cooperation of Muslim communities
with the security authorities remains a weak point of the fight against terrorism
in Germany. Six years after the attacks on 11 September 2001, according to
a survey of the news agency ddp in all federal laender, the authorities can
hardly count on active support from Muslim communities. In 2007, they have
received practically no specific information on "radicalized fellow believers,
on recruiters of terrorist organizations, or on planned attacks."
In response to the key question of whether
they had active help this year in the form of tips from Muslim communities,
the answer was almost entirely a clear no. It was reported from Lower Saxony
that there had been isolated tips on radicalization. In Hessen, there was
reserved talk of "slight tendencies towards openness." In three
laender, the authorities did not want to give any information. These laender
had declared in previous ddp-inquiries that they had not received any corresponding
tips in the past years. In addition to the obvious attempt not to offend the
Muslim communities, some answers showed a certain lack of understanding for
the missing cooperation. From Bavaria, for example, it was reported that the
"Bavarian Office for Constitutional Protection has still not received
any tips from Muslims despite appeals in the Internet and a special contact
telephone set up for this purpose." The security experts in Berlin had
similar experiences. In the past there, an anonymous telephone had not yielded
any tangible results. In response to the question of whether it has received
any tips, the Senate Interior Administration answered simply: "No."
Hamburg's interior authority pointed out that the situation had not changed
since the last surveys. Accordingly, no corresponding tips had been received
in the Hanseatic city. Experts there assess the access to Muslim communities
as "extremely difficult." In response to the question of new tendencies
in cooperation between Muslims and security authorities, it was generally
said that the authorities are trying to establish a basis for trust. For example,
the police in Baden-Wuerttemberg have named permanent contacts for the Muslim
communities. In Berlin, it was said that the cooperation had definitely changed
since 11 September 2001. Accordingly, on the part of the Muslims, there is
great interest "in not having their faith come under general suspicion."
Apart from the fight against terrorism, there have obviously been some changes
in Berlin and in other laender. In the capital city, it was said that Muslim
communities would become involved in various bodies. Next year a continuing
education series is supposed to increase the socio-political competence of
imams. Identical inquiries of the news agency ddp in past years had yielded
the same results for the time after 11 September 2001.
