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Suspects detained across Europe in anti-terror operation Suspects held across Europe in alleged plot to kidnap Norwegian diplomats
(about 1 hour later)
European law enforcement authorities say they have broken up a Norway-based recruitment ring that sent fighters to Iraq and Syria. European law enforcement authorities say they have broken up a Kurdish-Sunni extremist group that was allegedly planning to take Norwegian diplomats hostage either in Europe or the Middle East.
Officials have issued arrest warrants for 17 people in half a dozen European countries and the Middle East. Thirteen people have been arrested in simultaneous swoops in Italy, the UK and Norway after arrest warrants were issued. Operations also took place in Germany, Finland and Switzerland. Authorities said suspected leaders and members of a Norway-based group known as Rawti Shax were arrested.
The UK’s north-east counter-terrorism unit said four men had been arrested in Britain in connection with the operation, which has been led by Italian authorities. The four were aged 32, 33, 38 and 52, and were held at addresses in Hull, Derby, Birmingham and Sheffield respectively. The UK’s north-east counter-terrorism unit (Nectu) said four men had been arrested in Britain in connection with the operation, led by Italian authorities. The four were aged 32, 33, 38 and 52, and were held at addresses in Hull, Derby, Birmingham and Sheffield respectively.
A spokeswoman for Nectu said: “The arrests have taken place this morning in connection with this operation under European arrest warrants. The four men will appear before Westminster magistrates court as part of the process.A spokeswoman for Nectu said: “The arrests have taken place this morning in connection with this operation under European arrest warrants. The four men will appear before Westminster magistrates court as part of the process.
“We understand that people may be concerned following today’s arrests, however, we would like to reassure communities that today’s activity is as a result of an ongoing investigation which is intelligence-led. There is no evidence to suggest that communities are at risk.”“We understand that people may be concerned following today’s arrests, however, we would like to reassure communities that today’s activity is as a result of an ongoing investigation which is intelligence-led. There is no evidence to suggest that communities are at risk.”
Elsewhere in Europe, six suspects were detained in Italy and three in Norway, the BBC reported. A news conference is being held on Thursday with Italy’s top anti-terrorism officials. Elsewhere in Europe, six suspects were detained in Italy and three in Norway. A news conference is being held on Thursday with Italian anti-terrorism officials.
Norway’s security service, PST, told Norwegian media that a jailed Iraqi-born cleric and two others had been arrested on suspicion of their involvement in a terror plot in Italy. At the centre of the alleged extremist ring is Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, a radical Iraqi preacher who lives in Norway and is known as Mullah Krekar. Authorities said Ahmad was the driving ideological force behind the organisation, even while serving a separate prison sentence in Norway.
A spokeswoman said Najmaddin Faraj Ahmad, known as Mullah Krekar, and two others whom she did not name, faced a court hearing on Friday in Oslo, pending a possible deportation to Italy. He has lived in Norway since 1991, according to previous press reports, where he founded a group known as Ansar al-Islam. He had been released from prison in January after serving close to a three-year sentence for making threats against Erna Solberg, the Norwegian prime minister. Before the raid occurred, Ahmad was facing an 18-month prison term for praising the murder of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists at the start of the year.
Last month, Ahmad was sentenced to 18 months in jail for praising the killings of cartoonists at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had lampooned Islam and other religions. He was also found guilty of urging others to kill a Kurdish immigrant in Norway in the same interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK. He will appear in court on Friday alongside the other two people arrested in Norway, and could be deported to Italy.
Earlier this year, Ahmad was freed after nearly three years’ imprisonment for making death threats. The 59-year-old Kurd, who came to Norway as a refugee in 1991, was convicted in 2005 for a similar offence. Italian authorities who have led the years-long investigation into Rawti Shax say it is a terror organisation rooted in Europe, with cells communicating via the internet. They claim it is especially active in Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Finland, Greece, Italy, Norway, Iraq, Iran and Syria. The people arrested on Thursday have been charged with being associated with international terrorism.
Norway and the US have accused Ahmad of financing a defunct Iraqi Sunni insurgent group called Ansar al-Islam. It reportedly merged with Islamic State last year. Eurojust, the EU agency that coordinated the dawn raids, said the alleged terrorist group had become active in providing “logistical and financial support” to recruiting foreign fighters to be sent to Syria and Iraq “with the intent of training them for the future conflict in Kurdistan”.
Giuseppe Governale, a spokesman for the carabinieri military police, said the investigation monitored online conversations with members of the cell, who were spread out across Britain, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway and Sweden. Eurojust said other unnamed suspects could not be located and were believed to have travelled to Syria and the Middle East to join extremist groups including Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra. Planning for the operation, led by the Italian ROS carabinieri and directed by public prosecutors in Rome, began in September, it added.
“The investigations and continuous cooperation have been going on for years in Italy as well as other European countries, particularly Switzerland and Germany, progressively revealing the structure and operations of the terrorist organisation,” Eurojust said in a statement.
Italy’s interior minister, Angelino Alfano, said: “We are a country exposed to the international risk of terrorism because we are part of that great international coalition that is opposed to the caliphate.” Italy’s preventive measures had worked, he added.