Here is an encouraging and instructive story. From Expatica, with thanks to Anthony:
KARLSRUHE – The German chief federal prosecutor’s description of events suurrounded what appears to have been an attempt to assassinate Iraq’s interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi,was unusually detailed….
However, it also reveals the suspects to be more than fringe figures, with the plot leader said to have close links with the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group in Iraq.
The chronicle of the foiled plot begins on 3 December 2003 when police in Munich arrested a 30-year-old Iraqi Kurd identified as Lokman M., an alleged Ansar al-Islam member.
German prosecutors believe he was responsible for raising funds and equipment for Iraqis fighting against US troops in Iraq as well as smuggling fighters into Iraq. As a result, investigators step up their monitoring of Ansar al-Islam activists.
On 18 October, investigators discover a message on the internet calling for the murder of Allawi.
On Sunday 28 November – four days before Allawi’s arrival in Germany – police tape a suspicious telephone call. A 30-year-old Iraqi living in Berlin, Rafik Y., informs a fellow Iraqi in Augsburg, Mazen H., about the forthcoming Allawi visit. Investigators hear that contact is to be made with Ata R., a 31- year-old Iraqi living in Stuttgart.
Ata R., according to prosecutors, is an important figure within Ansar al-Islam. He is responsible for the collection of donations for activists in Iraq and has close contacts with the group’s leadership in the country.
On Monday 29 November, Ata R. and Mazen H. converse by telephone in coded language about how to gather information about the Allawi visit and procure weapons. State police have the call taped.
On Thursday 2 December, the day before Allawi’s arrival in Berlin, the telephone calls become more frantic. Rafik Y. gets the go-ahead for the attack from Ata R. and Mazen H., but time is short.
Read it all.