Security Measures Against Foreign Extremists Still Necessary

At a weekend symposium on Islam, the head of the Berlin office, Claudia Schmid, said that while there have not been any attacks by Islamic extremists in Germany, the danger of Islamic terrorism continues to pose a threat which must be closely monitored.

Two thirds of foreign extremists living in Berlin are Islamists, and two thirds of them, in turn, are Turkish Islamists, many of whom belong to the country's largest Islamic fundamentalist group, Milli Görüs. The organization promotes adoption of the Sharia, a strict interpretation of the Islamic law, and wants its views to be taught in public schools.

Majority non-violent

Despite Berlin's high concentration of foreign extremists, the majority are not violent, Schmid said in an interview with the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper. "The 2,900 Turkish Islamists can not be seen as violence-oriented," she said. "But there are about 1,000 Arab Islamists living in Berlin who belong to terrorist organisations such as the Palestinian group Hamas or the Lebanese Hizbollah. Still, their activities are concentrated on trying to achieve change in their homelands, not in Germany. When they demonstrate in Berlin, they do so peacefully."

Terrorist networks

Germany has clamped down on Islamic extremists since it emerged that several of the suicide hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities had lived for years in Hamburg. Schmid said that the arrests and trials of Islamic extremists since 2,000 have revealed evidence that militant Islamists have support networks in Germany with the kind of infrastructure to supply them with money, fake documents and mobile phones. Germany is also a place, she said, where extremists attempt to educate young Muslims in their ideology, and recruit young people for terrorist activities.

While Schmid's office is striving to create a friendlier image -- less traditional secret service and more informed, modern institution -- she made it clear that intelligence gathering about the foreign extremist scene will continue. "There are groups out there that are prepared to use violence to achieve their goals, which are being supported here in Berlin," Schmid said. "That's why we've increased the number of Islam experts and Middle East experts working for us in the Office for the Protection of the Constitution."

Increase understanding

Schmid said one of the most important tasks for her office is to provide analysis and information that can contribute to a more factual and less emotional discussion of extremism in Germany. In her view, the greatest challenge since the September 11 attacks is to understand the roots of the hatred Islamic extremists feel towards the Western world, and to develop political solutions to counteract extremism while at the same time preserving civil liberties.