From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Sun Sep 20 2009 - 16:43:40 EDT
Terrorism | 20.09.2009
Germans held in Pakistan
The Foreign Ministry says it's working to secure the group's releasePakistan
has jailed six Germans, including a four-year-old girl, on suspicion of
trying to join an extremist group. The German foreign ministry has confirmed
the case and that it’s working to have the group released.
A report to be published on Monday in the German weekly magazine, Der
Spiegel, says the six German nationals were taken into custody in May on the
Iranian border.
The magazine reports that among those arrested is the brother-in-law of
Munir Shuka, a spokesman for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant
group that is said to have links to the al-Qaeda network.
The detainees also include a German converted to Islam and his wife of
Eritrean origin along with their four-year-old daughter, according to the
report.
The six were said to have claimed to be Turkish and to have lost their
documents. It was not until August, when Pakistani intelligence took over
the case, that their identity was established.
Bid to secure group's release
Since then the German authorities have been trying to secure the release of
the woman and the child, Der Spiegel said, adding that all six were now
expected to be expelled to Germany.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin has now confirmed the case,
saying that efforts were under way to secure the release of the detained
Germans.
Der Spiegel said two of the detainees had told consular officials they
wanted to "join the jihad", and had complained of ill-treatment at the hands
of Pakistani security forces.
Pakistani authorities have also arrested a Tunisian who had lived in Germany
but whose residence permit had expired.
rb/AFP/AP
Editor: Andreas Illmer