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German intelligence officer 'arrested over Islamist plot' raising fears the spy agency has been infilitrated
[Telegraph] A German intelligence officer has reportedly been arrested over a suspected Islamist plot to bomb the agency's headquarters in Cologne.The 51-year-old official was said to have made a "partial confession" to the plot, according to Der Spiegel. The suspect attempted to pass on "sensitive information about the BfV (Germany's domestic security agency), which could lead to a threat to the office", an official told the newspaper. "He is accused of making Islamist remarks online under a false name, and offering internal information during chats," a BfV spokesman said. The BfV said the man "behaved inconspicuously" prior to his arrest. He had, since April, been engaged in gathering intelligence on Islamist extremists in Germany, Der Spiegel said.
He used several different names online and his activities were uncovered about a month ago. The man's family reportedly knew nothing of his conversion to Islam two years ago and subsequent radicalisation. The suspect was thought to have pledged of allegiance to Mohamed Mahmoud, the Austrain leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist group. Germany is on high alert following several terror attacks over the summer. The BfV estimates there are about 40,000 Islamists in Germany, including 9,200 ultra-conservative Islamists known as Salafists, Hans-Georg Maassen, who leads the agency, told Reuters in an interview earlier this month. "We remain a target of Islamic terrorism and we have to assume that Islamic State or other terrorist organisations will carry out an attack in Germany if they can," he said at the time.
One senior BfV official, who discussed the matter on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media defended the agency, said it was virtually impossible to protect against a breach like this. “How should anyone have known this? He had acted under different names and identities online,” he said. “Not his real name. One has to say that we were able to find out about all this very quickly and also actions were taken fast.” Officials were withholding the name of the 51-year old, as well as the alias he used as a porn actor and in chat rooms. Before he was hired in April, officials insist, he was thoroughly vetted. They said they had interviewed former employers and others who knew him. Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2016-11-30 |
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