Intelligence agency records Islamists recruiting refugees

Germanys domestic intelligence agency says it has recorded hundreds of attempts by radical Islamists to recruit immigrants hosted in the countrys refugee centres.

Hans-Georg Maassen, Head of Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said on Sunday in Berlin that there are more than 340 incidences on record.

``But these are the only the cases known to us. Presumably there are even more.’’

Maassen said workers at German refugee centres have already been made aware of the situation.

``It worries us that Salafists and other Islamists are promoting their cause in asylum centres.

``We know that there are very many young men of the Sunni denomination among asylum seekers,’’ he said.

The intelligence agency chief said that such often come from a conservative Islamic background and want to go to an Arabic-speaking mosque every Friday.

Maassen also noted that there were also numerous radical Salafist mosques in Germany.

He said that the Arabic-speaking mosques in Germany are not regulated and from the perspective of the state, there is very little the agency can influence.

Maassen said that Islamist-motivated attacks had also taken place before a recent spate of violence in the past month in Germany, and that a policeman in the city of Hanover as well as a Sikh temple in Essen had also been targeted.

``The lesson to learn from this is that we should not concentrate only on Islamic State, which may be sending terrorist units to Europe, as with Paris or Brussels.

``Instead it could be that individuals that are radicalized on their own or are given orders,’’ he said.