When the anti-terror police discovered a bomb-making hideout at the rented cottage in Oberschlendorn, central Germany on Tuesday, one could feel that this was just the tip of the iceberg. The hornet’s nest had only been stirred when two Germans converts to Islam and a Turk were arrested after being found in possession of military-style detonators and enough material to make bombs more powerful than those that killed 191 commuters in Madrid in 2004 and 52 in London in 2005.
And now the German police say that there could be more members to this ring who have been helping the trio. Andreas Christeleit, a spokesman for federal prosecutors, said on Thursday that seven people were being sought both in and outside Germany in connection to those arrested. He added that police knew the name of five of these people but declined to provide any more details.
The arrest of these alleged Islamic radicals has rippled a sense of shock and urgency across Germany. Conservatives are calling for aggressive police on-line search and a plethora of restaurants, pubs, discotheques, airports and other places frequented by Americans are also being kept under strict surveillance. While the arrests following a six-month investigation by about 300 officers have sparked a sense of relief and pride in the German police force’s efficiency, the fact that one of the trio arrested is a 28-year German named Fritz Gelowicz has sent a shock among the German people. They are now worried that ‘homegrown’ terrorists have now infiltrated their nation just as they have done in the UK.
But there’s still a scope for optimism to creep in. August Hanning, a deputy interior minister, says that it has now been confirmed that the network poses no direct threat to the national security. Yet the search for more suspects continues and the shadow of danger still looms over Germany.
Source:USA Today
Image Source:Cnews.canoe.ca
