Risk of attack remains for Germany

Germans have known for some time that their country is a target for terror.

In 2006, two Lebanese men tried and failed to blow up German commuter trains with a bomb in a suitcase.

In recent years, Islamic militant groups abroad have posted regular video messages on the internet warning of imminent attacks on Germany. The motivation: Germany's military mission in Afghanistan.

But the plot uncovered in 2007 shocked Germans more than any other incident.

That's because it involved native Germans joining a jihad against the West.

Growing up in the city of Ulm, Fritz Gelowicz seemed no different from any other teenager. He enjoyed sports and played in the local American Football team, the Ulm Barracudas.

But he became drawn to radical Islam. He had contact with radical preachers at a local cultural centre which was later shut down. He converted to Islam.

On 5 September 2007, German TV broadcast pictures of Fritz Gelowicz handcuffed and being led towards a police helicopter. He was one of three men arrested at a holiday cottage in the Sauerland region of western Germany.

Also detained was Daniel Schneider, another German convert to Islam.

There was video, too, of what investigators had found in the cottage: barrels containing enough hydrogen peroxide to produce hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

'Monstrous bloodbath'

Prosecutors said that Gelowicz and Schneider were part of a group which had been planning terror attacks across Germany.

Today, Fritz Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider were convicted of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

With them in the dock, in a high-security Duesseldorf courtroom, was Turkish national Adem Yilmaz: he was sent to jail for 11 years and a German citizen of Turkish descent, Atilla Selek, who was handed a five-year prison term.

The judge said the group had dreamed of mounting "a second September 11th" - a series of explosions which would have resulted in a 'monstrous bloodbath', the worst act of terror in modern German history.

The main targets were to be American soldiers stationed in Germany. There were plans to bomb a military base, bars, discos and airports.

The militants were driven by a hatred of America and by a belief that the US had declared war on Islam.

They have been linked to the Islamic Jihad Union - a group which has carried out attacks in Central Asia and which is connected to al-Qaeda.

During the trial, Gelowicz, Schneider and Selek admitted that they had made a "mistake" in pursuing violence and renounced terrorism.

Concern remains that foreign militant groups are actively seeking out and signing up young German converts to Islam to help plan and conduct terror attacks.

Following the arrest of the "Sauerland Cell" in 2007, Germany's deputy Interior Minister Peter Altmeier told me that between 18,000 -20,000 Germans had converted to Islam in the last decade.

That, he said, was "an enormous potential for radicalisation and recruitment."

Four months ago, the German authorities identified a 27-year-old convert to Islam, Jan Schneider, as an al-Qaeda operative who they believe has travelled to Afghanistan with the intention of attacking German military or civilian institutions.

The militants were driven by a hatred of America and by a belief that the US had declared war on Islam.

They have been linked to the Islamic Jihad Union - a group which has carried out attacks in Central Asia and which is connected to al-Qaeda.

During the trial, Gelowicz, Schneider and Selek admitted that they had made a "mistake" in pursuing violence and renounced terrorism.

Concern remains that foreign militant groups are actively seeking out and signing up young German converts to Islam to help plan and conduct terror attacks.

Following the arrest of the "Sauerland Cell" in 2007, Germany's deputy Interior Minister Peter Altmeier told me that between 18,000 -20,000 Germans had converted to Islam in the last decade.

That, he said, was "an enormous potential for radicalisation and recruitment."

Four months ago, the German authorities identified a 27-year-old convert to Islam, Jan Schneider, as an al-Qaeda operative who they believe has travelled to Afghanistan with the intention of attacking German military or civilian institutions.

But Guido Steinberg, from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, believes it would be wrong to focus solely on Islamic converts.

"As far as the security services are concerned, they don't differentiate between German converts to Islam, Turks, Arabs or anyone else," he says.

"But I think more of a concern today than the converts are jihadists of Turkish origin and the radicalisation of the Turkish community."

Unlike the United States, Spain and Britain; Germany has - up till now - avoided becoming the victim of a major terror attack, thanks to a combination of good detective work and good fortune.

But the conclusion of one court case and the jailing of four men does not remove the danger. Germany remains at risk of attack.