Hamburg cell at heart of terrorist plot against Europe

[chanel]

Hamburg, Germany (CNN) -- A group of jihadists from the German city of Hamburg is alleged to be at the heart of the recent al Qaeda plot to launch coordinated terrorist attacks against European cities, European intelligence officials said.

Western intelligence officials say they learned about the reported plot after Ahmed Sidiqi, a German citizen of Afghan descent, was arrested in Afghanistan in July and taken to the U.S. air base at Bagram for questioning. He has not been charged and intelligence sources in Germany say he is cooperating with the investigation.

"Their greatest enemy is the United States," a German intelligence official told CNN.

A recent report by Hamburg's intelligence services said that 45 jihadists lived freely and openly in the city, from where they supported al Qaeda. High evidence thresholds under the German legal system have made it very difficult for authorities to make arrests, German officials told CNN. In addition to those actively supporting al Qaeda, another 200 Islamists living in the city are described as having "violent tendencies."

German intelligence officials told CNN that Hamburg, like many other European cities, faces a challenge from Islamist extremists, but that some cities, including London, face greater challenges. They said they are increasing resources to confront the problem of Islamist extremism. Radicalization, they said, is on the rise because of the growth of German-language extremist websites and the revolution in social media.

Hamburg cell at heart of terrorist plot against Europe - CNN.com