Homegrown terrorism

A string of murders allegedly committed by a trio of neo-Nazis has raised concern among German authorities that some right-wing extremist groups may have transitioned from political agitation to outright terrorism.

Over the weekend, federal prosecutors alleged that right-wing extremists were responsible for the murder of a female police officer in the southern German city of Heilbronn in 2007 as well as the murders of eight food venders, of whom seven were Turkish and one was Greek.

After a bank robbery in the eastern Germany city of Eisenach, police followed the trail of the two suspected male perpetrators, later identified as Uwe B. and Uwe M., to a burnt out home in the Saxon town of Zwickau, where they had taken their lives.

At the scene, police found a pistol as well as DVDs in which the men reportedly admit to the nine murders and claim they are members of a group called the "National Socialist Underground," which is a "network of comrades with the basic principle of actions instead of words."

In a 15-minute-long video, the two men also announced further attacks, according to the news magazine Der Spiegel.

Right-wing terrorism

A suspected accomplice, Beate Z., has been taken into custody and has offered to be a principal witness in exchange for a lighter sentence. Like the two deceased men, she was a member of the extreme right-wing group "Thuringia Homeland Security."

Germany's interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, told reporters in Berlin Sunday that the country was witnessing "a new form of far right terrorism," one that does not "publicly claim responsibility [for attacks] or vaunt its actions within the far right scene."

Federal prosecutors said on Sunday police near Hanover took a suspected accomplice to the trio of alleged murders into custody. Prosecutors in Karlsruhe said 37-year-old Holger G. is thought to have been a member of the "National Socialist Underground" since the late 1990s. He is suspected of providing his drivers license and passport to the other three alleged terrorists.

Hans-Werner Wargel, head of the state of Lower Saxony's department for the Protection of the Constitution, said Germany may be "dealing with the worst case of right-wing violence in decades."

Call for answers

Cem Özdemir, the Green Party's parliamentary chief, expressed disbelief that the trio could avoid the authorities for so long given that they had been active since the 1990s.

"We have always pointed out that within the [right-wing] scene, groups have developed that are very militant and possibly have made the transition to terrorism," Bernd Wagner, an expert on right-wing extremism, told the daily Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.

"The motive is always the same." Bernd added. "An organized military struggle against democracy and foreigners."

The German parliament, the Bundestag, plans to hold a special committee meeting on neo-Nazi terrorism in response to the case, which has led to renewed calls for a ban of the extreme right-wing National Democratic Party (NPD).

"The NDP, as a political arm of the Nazi scene and enemy of the constitution, currently receives taxpayer money and should be finally banned," said Social Democratic parliamentarian Ralf Stegner.

Editor's note: Deutsche Welle is bound by German law and the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

Author: Spencer Kimball, Gabriel Borrud (AFP, Reuters)

Editor: Sean Sinico