Spain: Suspect in Spain terrorist attacks says imam planned to blow himself up in Barcelona

A judge ordered two of the four surviving suspects in the extremist attacks in Spain held without bail, another detained for 72 more hours and one freed with restrictions Tuesday after the men appeared in court to answer questions about the events that killed 15 people.

National Court Judge Fernando Andreu issued his orders after quizzing the four about the vehicle attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, as well as about the fatal explosion at a bomb-making workshop that police said scuttled the group's plot to carry out a more deadly attack at unspecified Barcelona monuments.

The judge said there was enough evidence to hold Mohamed Houli Chemlal, 21, and Driss Oukabir, 28, on preliminary charges of causing homicides and injuries of a terrorist nature and of belonging to a terrorism organization. Houli Chemlal also has an additional charge of dealing with explosives.

Read more: Suspect in Spain attacks says imam planned to blow himself up in Barcelona - World - CBC News

Pakistan - Easter attack confirms Pakistani Christians’ worst fears

The worst fears of Pakistan's Christians came true with the carnage in Lahore on Easter Sunday, said activists who had braced for a backlash since thousands protested the execution of a murderer feted as an Islamist hero.

\Taliban militants said they were targeting Christians with the suicide bombing which killed at least 72 people, nearly half of them children, in a crowded park in Lahore as thousands marked Easter on a warm spring evening.

Christian leaders said they had been filled with foreboding ever since the government executed Mumtaz Qadri, who murdered a liberal governor calling for reform of the country's blasphemy laws.

Read more: Asia-pacific - Easter attack confirms Pakistani Christians’ worst fears - France 24

Muslims on the move against ISIS: German Muslims invite all faiths to day of prayer against ISIS - by Bethan John

More than 2,000 German mosques have invited Germans of all religions to join their Friday prayers to present a united front against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to try to dissuade young Muslims from travelling to fight with radical Islamists in Syria and Iraq.

Germany’s four main Muslim groups announced their plan on Tuesday in response to concerns that German Muslims are joining ISIS and returning home with radical ideas and combat experience, posing a domestic security threat.

“We want to make clear terrorists and criminals do not speak in the name of Islam, they have trampled on the commandments of our religion, and that murderers and criminals have no place in our ranks, in our religion,” the head of the Central Council of Muslims, Aiman Mazyek, told a news conference in Berlin.

The groups are also organising peace rallies across Germany on the same day which senior officials, including Interior Minister de Maiziere and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, are expected to attend.

Authorities estimate 400 Germans have joined IS in Iraq and Syria. De Maiziere, announcing a ban on the group last week, urged the country’s 4 million Muslims to be vigilant about IS recruitment, especially on the Internet.

A 20-year-old man charged with joining IS in Syria went on trial in Frankfurt on Monday, the first such case in Germany.

Ali Kizilkaya, a spokesman for the umbrella group behind Friday’s initiative, said the Muslim community needed the support of the rest of German society to stop the radicalisation of young Muslims.

Note EU-Digest: excellent  initiative by German Muslim organizations  Should be copied by Muslim organizations around the world . Also more in-depth investigations should be conducted as to the actual provenience of so-called "radical Muslim" organizations. This could possibly lead to some surprising results?

Read more: German Muslims invite all faiths to day of prayer against ISIS - Al Arabiya News

Syria: Meet Chechclearr, the Web-savvy foreign Islamic militant in Syria - by Nabih Bulos and Patrick J. McDonnel

He loves sushi, AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.

He could be killed at any moment but vows to marry "a beautiful, righteous Muslim girl" as soon as he finds one.

He proclaims a "love for justice" but defends beheadings, battlefield executions and sectarian killing. He scorns democracy and extols a fundamentalist interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law.

Welcome to the virtual world of Chechclearr, the Internet handle of a self-described Islamic militant who says he is fighting as an Islamist rebel in Syria but also has time to post a copious amount of pictures and comments on the Internet. Although his identity cannot be independently verified, the many images he has posted appear authentic.

Militants in Syria have long made extensive use of social media, releasing statements on Twitter and on Facebook pages associated with various groups. Chechclearr is one of a number of Islamist fighters taking the time to document their experiences and impressions in English.

Note EU-Digest: Intelligence is a God gifted commodity to be used freely and to the best of one's intentions and abilities for good or evil. Unfortunately mankind, which includes Mr.  Chechclearr, has never been able to figure out what is good or evil, just as it has always put conditions on the meaning of  forgiveness.

Read more: Meet Chechclearr, the Web-savvy foreign Islamic militant in Syria - latimes.com

Syria conflict: At least 500 Europeans fighting with Syria rebels, study finds, stoking radicalization fears

Hundreds of Europeans have joined rebel forces in Syria to fight against Bashar Assad, according to the most comprehensive study on the issue to date, and while their motivations vary from thrill-seeking to religious conviction, the European Union's counter-terrorism chief warns some of them could return home as dangerous Islamic radicals.

The EU's Gilles de Kerchove told the BBC there were at least 500 Europeans taking part in Syria's civil war, and it was "likely many of them will be radicalized" fighting alongside some of the known Muslim extremist militias in the country, and that the returning EU nationals would pose, "a serious threat" to security in European nations.

Peter Neumann, Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) at London's King's College, says he believes the number of fighters from countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium( and the Netherlands) to be "at least in the mid-hundreds to high-hundreds."

Note EU-Digest: the EU organization Eurojust based in the Hague and the Dutch organization "Muslims and Government" (CMO) are concerned about the fact that in the past few months more young Dutch Muslims have left to join the fight in Syria with radical Muslim fighters, including the Jabath al-Nusra terrorist group, than in the whole past year. The major concern is that when these radicalized fighters return to their home countries in Europe they could become a danger to society.  

Read more: At least 500 Europeans fighting with Syria rebels, study finds, stoking radicalization fears - CBS News

Arrests prompt fears Netherlands is prime terror target

There are fears the Netherlands has become a prime target for terrorists following the arrest of 12 Somali nationals suspected of plotting an imminent strike. The men were detained in Rotterdam on Christmas Eve following a tip off from security services.

Dutch counter-terrorism experts believe the country’s former military role in Afghanistan under NATO and its anti-Muslim Freedom party may have made it more vulnerable.

The prosecutor leading the case Mr Gerrit van der Burg said: ‘‘We’re carrying out a large scale investigation in order to thwart the possibility of an impending attack. We don’t want to take any risks. It’s always uncertain if we’ve escaped a terrorist strike, but in this case we have removed the threat from these people.’‘

Note EU-Digest: If radical Muslim extremists believe that acts of terrorism in the Netherlands will make Geert Wilders pipe down on his rhetoric or loose his local support they are even more out of touch with reality than they already are. On the contrary acts of terrorism will make Gees Wilders his party only grow stronger. Everyone is at risk.  Muslims, Christians, other religious denominations and non-believers are therefore urged to contact Government authorities if they suspect any suspicious activities in their neighborhood.


For more: Arrests prompt fears Netherlands is prime terror target | euronews, world news

Somali terr4ori8st who tried to kill Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard at his home shot by police

Danish police have shot and wounded an axe-wielding Somali terrorist who tried to break into the home of Kurt Westergaard whose 2005 drawings of Prophet Muhammad outraged radical Muslims around the world.

Michael Larsen, a Danish police spokesman, said that authorities arrived at the house minutes after receiving an alarm alerting them to the intruder. " When the police found this person and he attacked the police with an axe and a knife he was shot."

The Danish police showed clemency to the terrorist by not shooting him in the head but in the leg and hand instead. He is in hospital now.

EU-Digest

Washington Post: Arrests suggest U.S. Muslims, like those in Europe, can be radicalized abroad - by By Mary Beth Sheridan and Spencer S. Hsu

For the complete report from the washingtonpost.com click on this link

A spike in terrorism cases involving U.S. citizens is challenging long-held assumptions that Muslims in Europe are more susceptible to radicalization than their better-assimilated counterparts in the United States.

Four investigations disclosed in the past 12 months, including the arrests of five Northern Virginia men in Pakistan this week, underscore what the Obama administration asserts is a domestic threat emanating from Americans training overseas with al-Qaeda and related terrorist groups in Pakistan. "We have apprehended extremists within our borders who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror," President Obama said this month in announcing plans to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

American Muslim organizations, jolted by the spate of cases, are abandoning their hesitation to speak out about the issue. While underlining that only a tiny minority has become radicalized, two major groups -- the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations -- said this week that they would launch counter-radicalization programs aimed at young people.