‘ISIS kingpin of Germany’ among five suspected jihadis arrested in dawn raids
Police in Germany arrested five key figures suspected of being recruited for ISIS in Lower Saxongy and North Rhine-Westphalia
THE "central figure" of German extremists was arrested this morning, along with four others, according to reports.
Police in Germany arrested five key figures suspected of being recruited for ISIS in Lower Saxongy and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Reported , the five men are accused of supporting the terrorist organisation.
One of the group arrested following months of investigation by the Federal Prosecutor's Office is the "preacher without face" - a 32-year-old Iraqi who has his own app and goes by the name Abu Walaa.
According to information from German media Walaa, also known as Ahmad Abdelaziz, has been known to authorities for years as a central target.
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The Federal Prosecutor's Office has been investigating Walaa, 32, since autumn last year.
They spent months looking into the people who worked with him to allegedly recruit young Muslims to become jihadis.
He is thought to be a leading figure in Germany's jihadi movement and many of his followers have fled to Syria.
Walaa was openly known to anti-terror police in Germany.
The suspects are thought to have also provided logistical and financial help to the young people they recruited.
In August searches was carried out ahead of today's arrests, including in a mosque in Hildesheimer Nordstadt - regarded as a major meeting place for Salafists, ultra conservative Sunni Islamists - where Walaa was thought to preach.
Around 20 Islamists who fled to Syria from Hanover are thought to have been radicalised at the mosque.
In April, The Sun reported Walaa's name on a social media plea for employment for a man jailed for a bomb plots expected release from prison.
Richard Dent was up for a parol hearing in July of this year, and was looking for work outside of jail.
One message on Twitter, referring to him by the name he took after being radicalised, pleads: “Can you help Salahuddin with employment?”
It added: “A parole board will be considering releasing brother Salahuddin from prison this July insha Allah.
“If you are in a position to offer employment to brother Salahuddin upon his release please contact Abu Walaa.”
Justice Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) described the arrests as "an important blow to the extremist scene in Germany."
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