Greece’s National Intelligence Service said Tuesday that it was at “a
heightened state of vigilance” for suspected militants, keeping close
tabs on radical Muslims, and had detected at least six foreign fighters
with the terrorist group Islamic State transiting through the country in
recent months.
The surveillance operation comes amid concern that
the militant group, formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,
or ISIS, will retaliate for increased U.S airstrikes in Iraq and
possible strikes in Syria.
“The threat level originating from Greece is very low because there
are no verified indications of either dormant or active ISIS cells or
splinter groups” within the country, a senior intelligence official
said. “We are, however, at a heightened state of vigilance now,
exchanging intelligence from the United States, Britain, France and
others.”
The official, who requested anonymity because of the
sensitive nature of the topic, did not elaborate. Nor did he say whether
Greece had issued international arrest warrants for Islamist militants
in a bid to block the spillover of extremist violence from the Middle
East.
Experts say that Greece, wedged between the West and the realm of
Islam, could become a conduit for radicals traveling elsewhere in
Europe.
In recent months, Greek intelligence has detected six
Islamic State recruits traveling through the country, including a
23-year-old French national carrying a memory stick with instructions
for making bombs.
The instructions carried by the Algerian-born
Frenchman bore the slogan “in the name of God,” according to Proto
Thema, a leading Greek newspaper. His childhood friend, a Tunisian
Frenchman who worked as a cook in upscale restaurants in Cannes before
being recruited by Islamic State two years ago, was spotted by Greek
authorities weeks later, reportedly returning from training in Syria.
“We couldn’t arrest them because there were no legal and legitimate
grounds to do so,” the intelligence officer said. “We tipped off other
agencies, instead, on their movements.”
In another case, Greek
authorities arrested a 43-year-old Frenchman of Russian descent for
trying to drive a truck carrying weapons bound for Syria through a
border crossing into Turkey.
Neither the intelligence officer nor
other officials contacted Tuesday disclosed details of that arrest. They
did not discount the possibility, however, of extraditing the man.
“Appropriate procedures are being followed,” the intelligence officer said.
Alarm over Islamic State and its potential appeal to some Muslims
emerged after a May attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels. Four people
were killed in that attack; a Muslim Frenchman who had fought in Syria
is being held.
Inundated by an influx of illegal migrants,
cash-strapped Greece has been asking the European Union for more money
and muscle to help push back tides of refugees -- and potentially
Islamist militants -- sneaking in and out of the country.
Since
the start of the year, Greece has deported more than 300 Syrians and
Iraqis suspected of terrorism-related activities. What’s more, with
Greece neighboring Albania, the biggest source of Islamic State recruits
in the Balkans, investigators warn that the passage of militants
through this country could increase.
About 300 Albanian fighters
have joined Islamic State and the militant group Al Nusra Front, which
is also fighting in Syria, according to the International Center for the
Study of Radicalization and Political Violence, a think tank based at
London’s King College. Forty of them were arrested and tried last month
in Kosovo, among the poorest states in the Balkans.
“More than
half of them were released because they had no idea what they were
getting into,” said Jeta Xharra, director of the Balkan Investigative
Reporting Network in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. “Many new recruits
do not know either. They are just replying to Internet ads that are
pouring in from Turkey, promising money in exchange for a year of
adventure, like a gap year after college.”
With unemployment and
poverty gripping much of the Balkans, Xharra warned that destitute
Muslims from Albania to the Turkish speaking areas of northern Greece
could fall prey to the incitement of Islamist militants.
“Much of
this has nothing to do with ideology,” said Xharra. “ Rather, money. All
authorities have to do to track ISIS’ foreign recruits is to follow the
money trail.”
Source: http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-greece-jihadists-20140909-story.html
Radical Islam Monitor in Southeast Europe