Hey, don't these guys know Switzerland is neutral? A well-heeled group of jihadists, funding their operations in part through legitimate businesses, is apprehended. "Suspected terrorist arrested in Switzerland," from Swissinfo, with thanks to Noir:
Swiss police have arrested a man whom they suspect of belonging to an Algerian Islamic fundamentalist cell that financed terrorist attacks in Algeria.Italian authorities, working in cooperation with the Swiss, said the Milan-based cell had raised at least €1.62 million (SFr2.57 million). The Italians issued international arrest warrants for three suspects and charged two others already in prison for separate crimes.
An Italian police statement on Monday said the cell "financed and gave logistical support to Islamic terrorism responsible for massacres in Algeria, including two that killed 18 people in 2005"....
The Milan cell has ties with the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), Algeria's largest outlawed rebel movement, Italian police confirmed.
The GSPC pledges allegiance to al Qaeda and has rejected an amnesty offered by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika aimed at ending years of bloodshed that has killed 200,000 people.
The Milan cell financed at least two attacks carried out by the GSPC, including one on January 3, 2005 and another on March 27, 2005 in towns southwest of Algiers.
Authorities began investigating the suspected cell in December 2003, tracking its activities and movements through wiretaps and surveillance. It ran legal businesses in Italy, including shops and a restaurant, from which it channelled money to fund terror activities in Algeria, police said. It also provided fake documents....
At least €1.3 million was transferred via banks and another €320,000 was wired abroad, police said. The cash was tracked to Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and Spain.
Money also was smuggled abroad via couriers, leading investigators to believe that the total sum being funnelled for terrorist activities was far greater than €1.62 million.
Lashkar-e-Taiba has declared a fatwa against the Pope, calling for him to be assassinated:
http://www.saag.org/papers20/paper1974.html
Lashkar-e-Taiba is a very active and ultra-violent terrorist group in South Asia, and they have a lot of blood on their hands. If anybody is capable of executing this fatwa, it would be them.
I wonder if Jihadist attacks in neutral Switzerland would open the eyes of European appeasers?
Sheesh. Is it approaching the point where one can't buy anything associated with Arab countries or Pakistan without running the risk of inadvertently funding some jihadist group? I hope not, because I do like some middle eastern food and Indian/Pakistani food.
Anthem for the Islamaniac jihadis:
La Cucaracha since like any other type of vermin they are found worldwide.
I gather quite a large percentage of Switzerland is Muslim -- perhaps a larger percentage than any other European country.
Swiss may have a reputation for being efficient, but I don't trust them to be up to efficiently deal with the Islamic threat.
This guy was only arrested after he had raised €1.62 million (SFr2.57 million).
Who knows there may be a number of others who, having raised half of that amount, remain unknown beacuse they have not caught the attention of the Swiss authorities.
"It's already been estimated that over 20% of the Swiss population are foreign and one can guess at how many of those are rich muslims."
"I gather quite a large percentage of Switzerland is Muslim -- perhaps a larger percentage than any other European country."
This is a myth that his floating around the internet for several years. Most foreigners in Switzerland are there on short-term (less than 1 year) or mid-term (2 to 3 years) non-permanent visas. They have been known to take in a good number of refugees but eventually get rid of most of them. As noted by others, it is very difficult to become a Swiss citizen; even being born in Switzerland doesn’t count if your parents are not Swiss. Besides a lot of years required to live in Switzerland with a permanent residence permit, the local community can deny citizenship -- and has often done so -- to any applicant even if he or she meets the "technical" requirements. As for Muslims in Switzerland, most are Bosnian refugees and not Arabs, and the overall population is around 3% ranging from less than 1% to almost 5% depending on the Canton.
As a former resident of the country I'll let you in on an open secret: Switzerland is a police state. The government knows where everyone (foreign and Swiss) lives and Swiss citizens (especially the Swiss-Germans) are very "responsible" in letting the authorities know of anything out of the ordinary – especially something to do with foreigners. Unlike most other western countries it is very difficult to live and even more difficult to work in Switzerland as an "illegal." The Swiss know they have a good thing and are not about to let Muslims screw it up. Plus, whenever they get sick of Muslims, they’ll just toss them all out; the Swiss are not squeamish about playing hard ball.
Well, it's a pity they don't remove Hani and Tariq Ramadan who are happily residing in Geneva.
Muslims love the Swiss banking privacy laws. Swiss Muslims are not likely to cause problems there as it is one of the few countries that have favorable banking regulations. Swiss banking laws are legendary.
One of the best anti-terror activities is to freeze or seize their money.
Surely, the New Duranty Times has an affiliate in Switzerland who can blow the whistle on the Swiss government using Swiss banking laws to prevent unfair tracking of financial transactions of the poor Muslim terrorists.
Seems like they can't get a fair shake anywhere in the free world anymore.
Could this be a trend?