Sasha
13th November 2011, 14:43
Germany probes suspected far-right murders
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/56671000/jpg/_56671396_013323393-1.jpg Police discovered two handguns believed to have been used in the murders in the burnt-out building
Continue reading the main story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15703804#story_continues_1) Related Stories
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Prosecutors in Germany say they have found evidence to link the murders of 10 people over seven years to far-right extremists.
Eight of the victims were of Turkish origin, one was Greek and one was a German policewoman.
Nine were small businessmen - mainly kebab stall owners - who were shot in the face in broad daylight at their places of work.
The murders were committed in several German cities between 2000 and 2007.
Police did not at first link the killings to neo-Nazis until the discovery last week of two handguns in a burnt-out house and caravan in the eastern German town of Zwickau.
There they also found the bodies of two men suspected of having taken part in an attack on two police officers in the city of Heilbronn in south-west Germany in 2007.
In the 2007 attack, a policewoman was killed and her male colleague seriously injured.
The two guns were thought to have been used in the policewoman's murder and the killings of the small businessmen.
'Trail of blood' The evidence found included DVDs prepared for sending to news agencies and Muslim cultural centres, containing propaganda for a neo-Nazi group.
"There is sufficient evidence to attribute the murders to an extreme right-wing group," a statement from the Federal Prosecutors' Office said.
Police identified the two men found dead in the caravan as Uwe B and Uwe M - they are thought to have committed suicide.
Police also arrested a woman identified as Beate Z who was described as the two men's "companion".
All three were known to belong to extreme right-wing groups.
The woman faces charges of murder, attempted murder, arson and belonging to a terrorist organisation.
The head of the German police trade union, Bernhard Witthaut, said the evidence so far suggested "a right-wing extremist terror cell has left an atrocious trail of blood".
Germany's far-right is small and politically marginalised, but has given rise to concern with periodic attacks on immigrants.
Germany is home to some 3,000,000 people of Turkish origin.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15703804
PxdzNoBy7mU
Germany sees "new form of far right terrorism"
By JUERGEN BAETZ
The Associated Press
BERLIN — Germany's interior minister says the country is witnessing "a new form of far right terrorism" following the discovery of a group suspected of killing 10 people.
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/01181/FOS101_1181892l.jpg
The photo shows a reproduction of mug shots of terror suspects Beate Z., Uwe W. and Uwe M., from left, in the " Ostthueringer Zeitung" in 1998.
German prosecutors are investigating whether the killings of 10 people over a seven-year period and a bomb attack in Cologne were the work of a group of the far-right extremists. (AP Photo/dapd/Ostthueringer Zeitung, Frank Doebert)
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/01180/MBER105_1180234l.jpg
FILE - In this April 30, 2007 file picture police officer Michele Kiesewetter is photographed. She was murdered near Heilbronn Germany in 2007.
German federal prosecutors say they're investigating suspicions that the killings of 10 people over a seven-year period, including a police officer, were the work of a far-right group. Prosecutors said Friday Nov. 11, 2011 they were looking into the murders of eight people of Turkish origin and one Greek in various German cities between September 2000 and April 2006, as well as the killing of a police officer in the southwestern city of Heilbronn in 2007. (AP Photo/dapd/Michael Latz)
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/01181/FOS101_1181923l.jpg
FILE - Picture released by German police shows a man, left, pushing a bike on June 9, 2004 in a street in Cologne, predominantly inhabited by Turkish people shortly before a nail bomb attached on the rack of the bike went off. 22 people were injured in the bomb attack. According to media reports on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011 investigators now believe a suspected far right terror cell involved in a German policewoman's killing may be linked to other unsolved crimes with anti-Semitic or racist motives. The crimes now being looked into include the nail bomb attack. (AP Photo/Police) BW only
Hans-Peter Friedrich told reporters in Berlin that investigators must now focus on determining whether the group was isolated or part of a wider network.
He says the killings represented a new form of terrorism because the group did not publicly claim responsibility or vaunt its actions within the far right scene.
Federal prosecutors said a fourth member suspected of belonging to the terrorist organization calling itself National Socialist Underground was arrested earlier Sunday.
Prosecutors suspect the group of having murdered a German policewoman, eight people of Turkish origin and one Greek national over the past decade.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BERLIN (AP) — German police on Sunday arrested a suspected accomplice of a group of far-right extremists who are believed to be responsible for killing 10 people, prosecutors said.
The 37-year-old German was arrested on suspicion of belonging to the right-wing terrorist organization calling itself "National Socialist Underground." Germany's Federal Prosecutors' Office said in a statement they are also investigating whether the suspect was directly involved in the group's killings.
The suspect, identified only as Holger G. in line with German privacy laws, is believed to have helped the group's other three known members by providing them with documents and vehicles, one of which was apparently used in the killing of a police officer, prosecutors said. Two of the other group members are dead while the third turned herself in to police.
The group is suspected of having murdered eight people of Turkish origin and one Greek in several German cities between September 2000 and April 2006, as well as killing the police officer in the southwestern city of Heilbronn in April 2007.
The nine civilian victims were businessmen — including a flower wholesaler, a tailor and a kebab stall owner — who were shot at their workplaces.
The Heilbronn killing also has long been a mystery. The 22-year-old policewoman was fatally shot in the head in a park and a fellow officer was seriously wounded by gunshots.
Last week, both officers' service weapons were found in a burning mobile home in central Germany where two men were found dead, in what police have said was an apparent suicide.
Prosecutors said they then found the pistol used in the earlier killings at the men's apartment in the eastern city of Zwickau, which also burned out last week following an explosion.
The two men, identified only as Uwe B. and Uwe M., are believed to have had links to far-right circles at the end of the 1990s — along with a female acquaintance, identified as Beate Z., who turned herself in to police on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said that the available evidence "points to a far-right motivation for the murders."
In Germany, federal prosecutors are responsible for investigations that involve suspicions of terrorism.
They said one aspect of the investigation was whether any "further people from far-right circles" were involved in the killings and whether the "terrorist organization" was also responsible for other crimes.
Germany's far right is small, splintered and politically marginalized, but concern flares periodically about violence by extremists against immigrants and others. Germany is home to some 3 million people of Turkish origin.
source: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/germany-sees-new-form-1224721.html
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/56671000/jpg/_56671396_013323393-1.jpg Police discovered two handguns believed to have been used in the murders in the burnt-out building
Continue reading the main story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15703804#story_continues_1) Related Stories
Germany bans large neo-Nazi group (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15003906)
Neo-Nazi radio arrests in Germany (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11689141)
Hitler's relationship with Germany explored (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11542473)
Prosecutors in Germany say they have found evidence to link the murders of 10 people over seven years to far-right extremists.
Eight of the victims were of Turkish origin, one was Greek and one was a German policewoman.
Nine were small businessmen - mainly kebab stall owners - who were shot in the face in broad daylight at their places of work.
The murders were committed in several German cities between 2000 and 2007.
Police did not at first link the killings to neo-Nazis until the discovery last week of two handguns in a burnt-out house and caravan in the eastern German town of Zwickau.
There they also found the bodies of two men suspected of having taken part in an attack on two police officers in the city of Heilbronn in south-west Germany in 2007.
In the 2007 attack, a policewoman was killed and her male colleague seriously injured.
The two guns were thought to have been used in the policewoman's murder and the killings of the small businessmen.
'Trail of blood' The evidence found included DVDs prepared for sending to news agencies and Muslim cultural centres, containing propaganda for a neo-Nazi group.
"There is sufficient evidence to attribute the murders to an extreme right-wing group," a statement from the Federal Prosecutors' Office said.
Police identified the two men found dead in the caravan as Uwe B and Uwe M - they are thought to have committed suicide.
Police also arrested a woman identified as Beate Z who was described as the two men's "companion".
All three were known to belong to extreme right-wing groups.
The woman faces charges of murder, attempted murder, arson and belonging to a terrorist organisation.
The head of the German police trade union, Bernhard Witthaut, said the evidence so far suggested "a right-wing extremist terror cell has left an atrocious trail of blood".
Germany's far-right is small and politically marginalised, but has given rise to concern with periodic attacks on immigrants.
Germany is home to some 3,000,000 people of Turkish origin.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15703804
PxdzNoBy7mU
Germany sees "new form of far right terrorism"
By JUERGEN BAETZ
The Associated Press
BERLIN — Germany's interior minister says the country is witnessing "a new form of far right terrorism" following the discovery of a group suspected of killing 10 people.
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/01181/FOS101_1181892l.jpg
The photo shows a reproduction of mug shots of terror suspects Beate Z., Uwe W. and Uwe M., from left, in the " Ostthueringer Zeitung" in 1998.
German prosecutors are investigating whether the killings of 10 people over a seven-year period and a bomb attack in Cologne were the work of a group of the far-right extremists. (AP Photo/dapd/Ostthueringer Zeitung, Frank Doebert)
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/01180/MBER105_1180234l.jpg
FILE - In this April 30, 2007 file picture police officer Michele Kiesewetter is photographed. She was murdered near Heilbronn Germany in 2007.
German federal prosecutors say they're investigating suspicions that the killings of 10 people over a seven-year period, including a police officer, were the work of a far-right group. Prosecutors said Friday Nov. 11, 2011 they were looking into the murders of eight people of Turkish origin and one Greek in various German cities between September 2000 and April 2006, as well as the killing of a police officer in the southwestern city of Heilbronn in 2007. (AP Photo/dapd/Michael Latz)
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/01181/FOS101_1181923l.jpg
FILE - Picture released by German police shows a man, left, pushing a bike on June 9, 2004 in a street in Cologne, predominantly inhabited by Turkish people shortly before a nail bomb attached on the rack of the bike went off. 22 people were injured in the bomb attack. According to media reports on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011 investigators now believe a suspected far right terror cell involved in a German policewoman's killing may be linked to other unsolved crimes with anti-Semitic or racist motives. The crimes now being looked into include the nail bomb attack. (AP Photo/Police) BW only
Hans-Peter Friedrich told reporters in Berlin that investigators must now focus on determining whether the group was isolated or part of a wider network.
He says the killings represented a new form of terrorism because the group did not publicly claim responsibility or vaunt its actions within the far right scene.
Federal prosecutors said a fourth member suspected of belonging to the terrorist organization calling itself National Socialist Underground was arrested earlier Sunday.
Prosecutors suspect the group of having murdered a German policewoman, eight people of Turkish origin and one Greek national over the past decade.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BERLIN (AP) — German police on Sunday arrested a suspected accomplice of a group of far-right extremists who are believed to be responsible for killing 10 people, prosecutors said.
The 37-year-old German was arrested on suspicion of belonging to the right-wing terrorist organization calling itself "National Socialist Underground." Germany's Federal Prosecutors' Office said in a statement they are also investigating whether the suspect was directly involved in the group's killings.
The suspect, identified only as Holger G. in line with German privacy laws, is believed to have helped the group's other three known members by providing them with documents and vehicles, one of which was apparently used in the killing of a police officer, prosecutors said. Two of the other group members are dead while the third turned herself in to police.
The group is suspected of having murdered eight people of Turkish origin and one Greek in several German cities between September 2000 and April 2006, as well as killing the police officer in the southwestern city of Heilbronn in April 2007.
The nine civilian victims were businessmen — including a flower wholesaler, a tailor and a kebab stall owner — who were shot at their workplaces.
The Heilbronn killing also has long been a mystery. The 22-year-old policewoman was fatally shot in the head in a park and a fellow officer was seriously wounded by gunshots.
Last week, both officers' service weapons were found in a burning mobile home in central Germany where two men were found dead, in what police have said was an apparent suicide.
Prosecutors said they then found the pistol used in the earlier killings at the men's apartment in the eastern city of Zwickau, which also burned out last week following an explosion.
The two men, identified only as Uwe B. and Uwe M., are believed to have had links to far-right circles at the end of the 1990s — along with a female acquaintance, identified as Beate Z., who turned herself in to police on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said that the available evidence "points to a far-right motivation for the murders."
In Germany, federal prosecutors are responsible for investigations that involve suspicions of terrorism.
They said one aspect of the investigation was whether any "further people from far-right circles" were involved in the killings and whether the "terrorist organization" was also responsible for other crimes.
Germany's far right is small, splintered and politically marginalized, but concern flares periodically about violence by extremists against immigrants and others. Germany is home to some 3 million people of Turkish origin.
source: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/germany-sees-new-form-1224721.html