German Interior Minister: German "Jihadists" Are Fighting in Syria

Source : SANA

BERLIN, (SANA)- German Interior Minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, revealed that Islamist extremists from Germany are fighting alongside the armed terrorist groups in Syria.

In an interview with the German Spiegel magazine published Thursday, Friedrich said the German intelligence are concerned that those extremists could pose a threat to Germany's security after they return from Syria.

He affirmed that German "jihadists" who were under surveillance in the country are now operating in Syria and fighting within the ranks of "the armed opposition" groups.

The German Minister stopped short of clarifying how the German "jihadists" were able to move to Syria while they were under surveillance.

He said Germany is following with deep concern the developments of the situation and the calls for Europeans who participated in the fighting in Syria to return home and continue "jihad" back in their countries.

The EU Counter Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, revealed Wednesday that hundreds of Europeans have joined the ranks of the armed terrorist groups fighting in Syria.

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The German parliament is debating the existing rules and proposed changes in the visa legislation

Source : Vesti Kavkaza

The Green party is against the planned easing of the visa regime between Germany and Russia, persistently trying to link the issue with political freedoms and human rights in Russia. According to the bilateral agreements reached between Moscow and Berlin, Russian official passport holders and entrepreneurs may no longer need a visa to enter Germany in the near future.

"These are passports which are distributed by the Russian government to all the friends of the nomenclature" a deputy from the Green Party, Marie-Louise Beck, said about the official Russian passports. "At the same time, students and representatives of civil society have to stand in line in front of the consulate," Beck said, Die Welt writes.

No explosives found in suspicious package sent to German president

Source : The Express Tribune

 
A suspicious package sent to German President Joachim Gauck’s office on Friday and destroyed by police did not contain explosives, federal investigators said.

Earlier, a spokesperson for Gauck said police had carried out a controlled explosion of the package, in a park next to the presidential palace in central Berlin.

Federal investigators said their tests had shown there were no explosives, despite the earlier suspicions of the bomb disposal experts.

The incident came a day after US authorities charged a man with mailing letters to President Barack Obama and a US senator containing a substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin, a highly lethal poison made from castor beans.

Munich court delays neo-Nazi trial after access row

Source : The Voice of Russia

A Munich court delayed on Monday the long-awaited trial of a suspected neo-Nazi charged over a string of immigrant murders, after being ordered by a higher court to guarantee seats to media from Turkey, where most victims hailed from.

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The postponement of 38-year-old Beate Zschaepe's trial, which had been due to start on Wednesday, is the latest mishap to dog a case that has horrified Germans and exposed bungled investigations, a failure to share information, and an entrenched disregard for the far-right threat.

The Munich court had allocated 50 guaranteed seats in the small courtroom to media on a first-come-first-served basis but none went to Turkish journalists.

Turkish newspaper Sabah filed a lawsuit which the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe upheld, ruling that the Munich court must open up at least three more seats for foreign media.

"In view of the Constitutional Court ruling... a new accreditation process is necessary," Munich court spokeswoman Margarete Noetzel said in a statement.

Noetzel said she had no idea what criteria would be applied in the new process.