Germany Bracing for Islamic Terror
Federal and state security agencies have been ordered to identify the whereabouts of up to 250 German Islamists.
Germany Bracing for Islamic Terror
Soeren Kern | Gatestone Institute | January 13, 2015
The offices of a German newspaper that republished satirical cartoons from Charlie Hebdo, a French magazine known for lampooning Islam, have been hit by arsonists.
No one was hurt in the attack on the Hamburger Morgenpost, which occurred in the early morning hours of January 11 and caused only minor damage.
Although police arrested two individuals in connection with the incident, their identities have not yet been released to the public. But German police said they are “working under the assumption” that the attack was connected to the decision by the paper, also known as MOPO, to republish cartoons spoofing Mohammed on its front page on January 8, as an act of solidarity with the attack on the journalists of Charlie Hebdo.
Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz said that any attack on the press and freedom of expression is an attack on democracy. “A free press and freedom of expression are part of the foundation on which democracy rests,” Scholz said. “A democratic society without a press-mediated conversation about the political and social issues of our time cannot be imagined.”
The attack came a day after the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported that Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Agency (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) has enacted a nationwide emergency plan in an effort to prevent Islamic terrorists from striking in Germany.
