War on Terrorism: Observer special

Kate Connolly in Berlin

Sunday October 7, 2001

The Observer

German investigators into terrorist 'sleepers' have switched their

attention to right-wing extremists who could join forces with

Islamic fundamentalists.

Neo-Nazi groups applauded the 11 September suicide attacks

on the United States, and thanked the terrorists for 'knocking

out' the 'common enemy': Americans and global capitalism. A

message on the website of Horst Mahler, the former extreme-left

Red Army Faction guerrilla who recently emerged as the leading

ideologue of extreme-right academics, congratulated the

terrorists and expressed solidarity with Islamic militants.

'The military attacks on the symbols of mammonistic world

power were utterly effective and therefore just,' he wrote in a

statement that was peppered with anti-Semitic comments.

Confronted with his remarks in a television interview, Mahler said

the attacks amounted to 'justified warfare by opponents of the

global structures in the United States, and they have my full

sympathy'.

Another far-right group, National Resistance (NW), said 11

September was a day for celebration.

'The attacks in the USA have received a hugely positive

response on the far Right,' said Hans-Joachim Kunz, of the

Bavarian section of the German Office for the Protection of the

Constitution (BfV). 'The fact is neo-Nazis and Islamic

fundamentalists have a common ideology and that is they both

see the USA as their enemy.'

Following the attacks, neo-Nazis in the north-eastern town of

Stralsund publicly burnt an American flag. In Eisenach a

neo-Nazi was arrested after praising the attackers in a television

interview.

A computer search began last week in the hunt for terrorists

who may be living in Germany. A federal official involved in the

investigations told The Observer: 'The two groups could be

working behind the scenes - sharing logistics or bomb-making

skills - towards a common goal. This would be a nightmare

scenario.'

Security fears have been at fever pitch since it emerged that

seven of the terrorists involved in the suicide attacks on the US

had lived and studied in Germany.

The extreme Right is known to have been stockpiling firearms

and bomb-making equipment in recent years. This has raised

fears of a large-scale terrorist campaign, particularly in the light

of a government-led initiative to ban the far-right National

Democratic Party (NPD) which will come into force later this

year.