2007 bomb plot in Germany

Foiled terrorist attack in Medebach, Germany November 2019 2007 bomb plot in Germany Medebach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Ramstein Air Base, Frankfurt Airport and other public locations Car bombing, mass murder (attempted) 0 0 Fritz Gelowicz, Attila Selek, Daniel Schneider, Adem Yilmaz Hydrogen peroxide and military-grade detonators In 2007, a bomb plot planned across various German states by the al-Qaeda-controlled'Massive' bomb plot thwarted in Germany, authorities say CBC News en-US CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/massive-bomb-plot-thwarted-in-germany-authorities-say-1.652084 2020-11-05 Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) affiliated Sauerland terror cell (de Sauerland-Gruppe Sauerland Group) was discovered following an extensive nine-month investigation involving more than 600 agents.Eijkman Quirine 8 June 2014 The German Sauerland Terror Plot Reconsidered http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/363 Perspectives on Terrorism en 8 4 2334-3745 23 March 2017 23 March 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170323233436/http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/363 usurped 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 in Copenhagen were busy with explosives. A Pakistani and an Afghan 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 two European countries.Germany says it foiled bomb plot - The Boston Globe https://archive.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/09/06/germany_says_it_foiled_bomb_plot/ 2020-11-05 archive.boston.com en Three men were arrested on 4 September 2007 while leaving a rented cottage in the Oberschledorn district of Medebach, Germany where they had stored 700 kg (1,500 lb) of a hydrogen peroxide-based mixture and 26 military-grade detonators,Kulish Nicholas Mekhennet, Souad From Fritz to Adbullah: conversion shocks Germans The New York Times 8 September 2007 http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/from-fritz-to-adbullah-conversion-shocks-germans/2007/09/07/1188783495046.html 8 September 2007Der Spiegel: Teenager schmuggelte Zünder nach Deutschland, 6 October 2007 and were attempting to build car bombs.Communications Intercept Led To Bomb-Plot Arrests Los Angeles Times 7 September 2007 http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBD1CJ4A6F.html 8 September 2007October 2010 H3llBot A supporter was arrested in Turkey. All four had attended an IJU-training camp in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2006. They were convicted in 2010 and given prison sentences of varying lengths; all have since been released.2019-02-07 Germany: No Choice But to Reject Terrorist Extradition to US https://www.voanews.com/europe/germany-no-choice-reject-terrorist-extradition-us https://web.archive.org/web/20191202135140/https://www.voanews.com/europe/germany-no-choice-reject-terrorist-extradition-us dead 2 December 2019 2020-09-04 Voice of America en Perpetrators Two of the perpetrators were German converts to Islam from Christianity,Katrin Bennhold: Letter from Europe: Local terrorism suspects puzzle Germany, International Herald Tribune, 12 September 2007 and two were German-Turks. In 2006, all four attended a paramilitary training camp run by the Islamic Jihad Union in Waziristan. The perpetrators were primarily motivated by strong anti-Americanism fuelled by interaction with extremists inside Germany, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and their radicalization increased after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Fritz Gelowicz Fritz Gelowicz (born 1979) was considered the leader of the plot.https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/world/europe/07fritz.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin In Plot Suspect, Germany Sees Familiar Face Kulish Nicholas 7 September 2007 8 September 2007 The New York Times Mekhennet, Souadhttp://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/terroralarm-in-deutschland-die-bombenbauer-aus-der-provinz-a-504464.html Die Bombenbauer aus der Provinz 7 September 2007 Spiegel Online 8 September 2007 de He was born in Munich and moved to Ulm with his parents and brother at the age of 5. He was raised in an upper middle class family where his father was a solar heating salesman and his mother was a nurse.http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5115109.html Germany considers monitoring converts to Islam on Internet Schofield Matthew 6 September 2007 McClatchy-Tribune 8 September 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070918144020/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5115109.html 18 September 2007 Houston Chroniclehttps://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/09/07/ap4094092.html Germans Concerned About Muslim Converts Higgins Alexander G. 7 September 2007 8 September 2007 Forbes Associated PressJanuary 2022 medicmedic 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 the Multikulturhaus in Neu-Ulm, and used the name Abdullah. The Multikulturhaus, with its radical sermons, was at the time one of the main Salafist centers in Germany; it was closed in 2005. He enrolled to study engineering at Ulm University where he joined an extremist Islamist study circle, which regularly met at Café Istanbul. Members of the study group legitimized the killing of Jews, Christians and infidels. Gelowicz was also a member of extremist circles based at the Multikulturhaus in Neu-Ulm. Gelowicz lost interest in his engineering studies and took an 18-month break from the University. During the break, he took Arabic language courses in Egypt and Syria as well as religious courses in Saudi Arabia. He also took part in the hajj to Mecca. According to U.S. authorities, Gelowicz trained at camp belonging to the Islamic Jihad Union in tribal areas of Pakistan. He was married in January 2007, to a German-Turkish woman. Others Daniel Schneider (born 1986), lived in Saarbrücken. He dropped out of the twelfth grade after only a few weeks. He converted to Islam at the age of 19, and spent time studying the Koran and Arabic in Egypt. Like Gelowicz, his parents were divorced when he was young and he had many Turkish friends, who seem to have introduced him to Islam. Schneider also spent 9 months as a conscript in the German army and trained in munitions. He met Gelowicz at the Islamic Jihad Union training camp in Pakistan. Adem Yilmaz (born 1979), was raised in Turkey.Gomez Edward M. Germany's thwarted bombers: "Not an abstract danger, but a very real threat" SFGate 6 September 2007 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=15&entry_id=20048 https://web.archive.org/web/20100104074624/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=15&entry_id=20048 dead 4 January 2010 8 September 2007 He came to Germany with his family in 1993. He has two younger sisters and a younger brother. His family lives in Germany's Hessian area. He holds both German and Turkish citizenships. He met Gelowicz and Selek in January 2005, when all three were making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Atilla Selek (born 1975) was a supporter of the group. He was born in Germany to Turkish parents and obtained German citizenship in 2005.http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/urteil-helfer-der-sauerland-gruppe-ist-kein-deutscher-mehr-a-775671.html Urteil: Helfer der Sauerland-Gruppe ist kein Deutscher mehr 21 July 2011 SPIEGEL ONLINE de Selek and Gelowicz met at the Multi-Kultur-Haus in Neu-Ulm. As Atilla had hidden criminal proceedings against him for breaches against gun regulation from the passport authorities during his application, those authorities removed his citizenship in 2011 on the grounds that it had been fraudulently obtained. This rendered him stateless. 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.Dempsey Judy Bennhold, Katrin Germany Debates Security Measures The New York Times 8 September 2007 https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/world/europe/08investigation.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 8 September 2007 Investigation thumb|left|Frankfurt Airport The suspects had been under observation since October 2006, when the NSA had intercepted communications between them and IJU and alerted German authorities. At the end of 2006, Fritz Gelowicz was spotted suspiciously observing a US Army base in Hanau.Die Welt online: "Klarer Auftrag" für Attentate kam aus Pakistan, 7 September 2007 The suspects had rented a vacation house in the remote town of Oberschledorn, where they amassed 700 kg (1,500 lbs) of hydrogen peroxide, and military-grade detonators from Syria.Süddeutsche Zeitung: Spuren führen nach Syrien und Pakistan https://web.archive.org/web/20070910231142/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/deutschland/artikel/224/131986/ 10 September 2007 , 8 September 2007 A 20 July conversation between two suspects mentioned targeting "a disco filled with American sluts," as well as Ramstein Air Base and Frankfurt Airport.Erik Kirschbaum: German suspects had deadline for attacks: report, Reuters, 8 September 2007 A phone call from northern Pakistan in late August is purported to have set a 15 September deadline for the group's attacks. 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. 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. 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 a German police officer in the hand before being subdued. Purvis Andrew German Plot Signals al-Qaeda Revival TIME 5 September 2007 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1659033,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20070907154844/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1659033,00.html dead 7 September 2007 12 January 2015 Bombing materials The solution containing 35% hydrogen peroxideAP: Militant group claims responsibility for foiled bombing attacks in Germany, The Canadian Press, 12 September 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070922012544/http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGbU6dEXD4p3ZicM8uWUZ8wkxJgg 22 September 2007 had been purchased legally.David McHugh and Ann Cahill: Suspected terror plot thwarted in Germany, Irish Examiner, 6 September 2007 Authorities who were observing the group surreptitiously replaced it with a harmless 3% solution at the end of July 2007.http://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/nachrichten/vermischtes/aktuelles_berichte/Sauerland-Gruppe-Terroristen-kauften-monatelang-Wasserstoffperoxid;art29854,559696 Sauerland-Gruppe: Terroristen kauften monatelang Wasserstoffperoxid 12 May 2009 RuhrNachrichten.de 2017-03-21 dead de-DE https://web.archive.org/web/20161201113221/https://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/nachrichten/vermischtes/aktuelles_berichte/Sauerland-Gruppe-Terroristen-kauften-monatelang-Wasserstoffperoxid;art29854,559696 1 December 2016 dmy-all 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.The Washington Post: Germany Says It Foiled Bomb Plot, 5 September 2007 The hydrogen peroxide was to be concentrated by being heated, and then mixed with flour.Introduction to the court's verdictJune 2023 InternetArchiveBot yes , Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf, 4 March 2010 (in German) It was found later that many of the 26 military detonators the group had purchased would not have worked. Three used vans had also been purchased in France, and brought into Germany, possibly to be the carriers for the bombs.The Times of India: Terror suspects brought 3 vans into Germany, says official, 8 September 2007 Aftermath U.S. President George W. Bush, after being briefed on the arrests, expressed his appreciation to the German authorities, saying that serious potential terrorist attacks had been prevented. 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. Tougher terror legislation was proposed by German Justice Minister Brigitte 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.AP/Geir Moulson: New German Terror Laws Proposed https://web.archive.org/web/20121020132902/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1663290,00.html 20 October 2012 , Time, 19 September 2007 G., S., Y., and S. went on trial in Germany on 22 April 2009. The suspects confessed. They were sentenced in March 2010. Perpetrators and sentencing 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. The perpetrators were primarily motivated by strong anti-Americanism fuelled by interaction with extremists inside Germany, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and their radicalization increased after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.https://ctc.usma.edu/lessons-learned-from-the-september-2007-german-terrorist-plot/ Lessons Learned from the September 2007 German Terrorist Plot Nesser Petter March 2008 Combating Terrorism Center 25 April 2019 25 April 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190425063552/https://ctc.usma.edu/lessons-learned-from-the-september-2007-german-terrorist-plot/ dead Fritz Gelowicz received a 12-year prison sentence for membership in a terrorist organisation abroad, conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause an explosion, conspiracy to blackmail constitutional organs, and preparation to cause an explosion offence. He was granted early release in August 2016 after having been in jail for nine years.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/world/europe/germany-fritz-gelowicz-bomb-plot.html German Who Plotted to Bomb U.S. Targets in Europe Gets Out of Prison Early Chan Sewell 17 August 2016 The New York Times Adem Yilmaz received an 11-year prison sentence for membership in a terrorist organisation abroad, conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause an explosion, conspiracy to blackmail constitutional organs, and preparation to cause an explosive offence. He received a shorter sentence since the members of the group had offered confessions on his initiative. Atilla Selek. received a 5-year prison sentence for attempted murder and resisting enforcement officers (for the events during his arrest), as well as for membership in a terrorist organisation abroad, conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause an explosion, conspiracy to blackmail constitutional organs, and preparation to cause an explosive offence. He was released in 2011 after having served two-thirds of his sentence. His citizenship was revoked. Daniel Schneider received a 5-year prison sentence for supporting a terrorist organisation abroad and preparation to cause an explosive offence.https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna35702791 Four jailed over plot to attack U.S. bases 4 March 2010 NBC News 12 January 2013 He was released in July 2011. References 30em Germany Bomb Plot in Germany, 2007 Category:Islamic terrorism in Germany Category:Failed terrorist attempts in Germany Category:21st century in North Rhine-Westphalia Category:Crime in North Rhine-Westphalia Category:Islamic Jihad Union Category:Terrorist incidents in Germany in 2007 Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2007