Failed Bomb Plot Seen As Al-Qaida Initiation Test

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,476238,00.html

Germany narrowly escaped what could have been its worst-ever terrorist attack last July when two bombs placed on trains failed to detonate. The case comes to trial in a Lebanese court this week with German police suspecting that the attack was an initiation test for potential al-Qaida recruits.


AP
Jihad Hamad, one of the suspected train bombers, stands trial in Beirut this week.
German authorities believe that the two Lebanese studentswho tried but failed to detonate self-made bombs in two German trains last July may have done so to qualify themselves for al-Qaida missions in Iraq.

The trial of the two alleged would-be bombers, Youssef el Hajdib, 21, Jihad Hamad, 20 and four other men starts on Wednesday in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Youssef al-Hajdib, who is in custody in a Berlin jail, is being tried in absentia.

Youssef and Jihad had made crude bombs from gas canisters filled with petrol and diesel and deposited them on two German regional trains hidden in large suitcases on July 31. They both boarded trains at Cologne's main train station and got off after depositing the bombs.

The devices, fitted with alarm clocks for timers, failed to detonate. If they had, they would have created a fireball up to 15 meters wide and hurled deadly shrapnel up to 100 meters, explosive experts said. It could have been the worst terrorist attack on German soil in the country's history.

They were arrested a few weeks later after being recognized from Cologne station's security camera footage. Youssef was detained in Germany and Jihad turned himself in to Lebanese authorities after hiding at his parents' house. At the time, it had looked like an isolated plot because they declared they had been radicalized by the row over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in European newspapers.

But eight months on, after analyzing computer hard drives, mobile phone data, DNA traces and interrogation records, German authorities have reached a different conclusion -- that the attacks were commissioned by a man with links to al-Qaida as a test of courage to qualify them for attacks on US-led forces in Iraq.

The investigation has broadened to include Youssef al-Hajdib's older brother, Chalid Ibrahim, 37, who has been living in the Swedish town Malmo and is believed to be in custody in Lebanon. Swedish authorities suspect Chalid Ibrahim of having recruited fighters for the conflict in Iraq and collecting money to fund terrorism. He is believed to have contacts with al-Qaida.

The suspicion that the attacks were a test was reinforced by an e-mail from Youssef al-Hajddib to his Jihad Hamad six weeks before the attack. In the e-mail, Youssef wrote that his brother in Sweden had rung and said he would come to Germany on June 29. Hajdib went on to say they would need to be patient for a little longer "until we have totally made it and passed the initiation test. Then we'll travel to Iraq together."


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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

We reported this one!

Yes, I remember this and we reported it too!
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"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

We hear and see every day about these radical muslems attacks. They not only have attacked us but other major countries around the world. Why is it then that all these countries open their eyes and unite against these radicals? They are like the school yard bully, and if we would all turn and fight back together with the same force, they would back off and think twice before trying anything thing again.
This means rooting them out of government programs and protection of freedom of expression. If it wouldn't fly in their country then it will not be allowed here our any other country.
We need to say NO MORE! And what ever it takes to squash them it needs to be done. We've all been pushed and pushed, not it's time to push back. And this time knock them off their feet in the dust (or sand). When you stand up to the bully you see that they are really just a coward and will slink away. They need to be watched and if they try again knock them down again and keep on till they learn to be civil or leave us and others alone.
And those countries that are weaker and unable to fight back we all need to stand up in front of them and protect them like big brothers and sisters.
Yes, in the real world this doesn't happen. But if we would all get some back bone it would. Nothing is going to change unless we do something and stop worrying about what someone else would think. They obviously don't care about what is happening and won't till it's on their door step.
I believe people are opening their eyes but if we don't act soon it may be to late.
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Psalm22:10-11 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mothers womb You have been My God.