Iraqi Jihad Recruiter in Germany Convicted

I'd be a lot happier if he had got more than seven years, but this is Germany which is still in Europe. We'll take what we can get, when we can get it. Via Chad at ITB who also notes the Spaniards got another one, this from ADNKI:

An Iraqi man has been sentenced to seven years by a German court for helping smuggle suicide bombers from Europe to his native country in what is considered a landmark ruling. Amin Lokman Mohamed, 31, was convicted by Munich judge, Bernd von Heintschel-Heinegg, of "belonging to a terrorist association and recruiting militants to send to Iraq."

Mohamed, from Iraqi Kurdistan, was arrested by the German police in 2003, while living in Munich. He denied belonging to the radical Islamic group Ansar al-Islam, which is believed linked to the al-Qaeda network and considered responsible for countless attacks against US troops in Iraq, but admitted collecting funds and recruiting jihadis in Europe.

During the trial, the court was presented with transcripts of hundreds of tapped phone conversations, in which Mohamed allegedly organised for the transfer of young men from Europe to Iraq and of others from his homeland to Germany and Britain.

Despite what the article says, Ansar al-Islam has not been responsible for many attacks lately. The group operated mainly in Kurdistan but was mostly wiped out by the Peshmerga during and after the war. Remnants have been succesful in the odd political assassination in Kurdistan, but nothing else. The real threat came when former Ansar al-Islam fighter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi took foreign fighters and formed Tawhid and Jihad--now known as al Qaeda in Iraq. Another group which seems to have formed from remnants of Ansar al-Islam, is The Army of Ansar al-Sunnah, which is no longer able to operate in Kurdistan but carries on terror activities wherever there are large Kurdish minorities in Iraq.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:44 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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