A New Terrorist Threat In Europe

Sources Say Shoulder-Fired Missiles In Terrorists' Hands

(CBS) 
The war in Iraq, he says, is a major factor in the recruitment and radicalization of young Muslims throughout Europe. It is a process he says is happening faster than ever before.

"They have the capacity to shift (from fundamentalist to radical to jihadist) to convert very quickly; some of them within two weeks," he said.

Some of these Muslims are converts to Islam, many have European passports, and may belong to ethnic or national groups that have not previously attracted the attention of security agencies.

"Iraq has had, and continues to have, unfortunately, a very big impact in the promotion of jihad," said the judge. "There is even greater technical capacity because some have the capability to carry out non-conventional attacks with chemical, toxic or biological weapons."

Two years ago, an investigation launched by Bruguiere thwarted an Islamist plot linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, and among America’s most wanted men. The plotters, based in the Paris industrial suburb of Courneuve, had intended to use cyanide gas on targets in Paris.

Now, Bruguiere sees an even greater connection between groups operating in Europe, and an expansionist-minded al-Zarqawi. "Absolutely," he says, al-Zarqawi is trying to expand his theatre of operations beyond Iraq. "Because Iraq is considered by his group as the new land of jihad. They try from this standpoint to try and to promote and launch jihad operations outside this area, especially in Europe."

Intelligence sources tell CBS News that the shoulder-launched missiles acquired in Chechnya were destined for groups in France loyal to al-Zarqawi. Investigators have also uncovered evidence of direct communications between European cells and al-Zarqawi operatives based in or near the Middle East.

And in a shift, intelligence sources say that Iraq is no longer simply a one-way combat zone for jihadists, many of whom were used as suicide bomb fodder. Now, they say, Iraq is a training ground for operatives who will return home.

Intelligence sources told CBS News that a senior al Qaeda operative, known as Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, was sent to Iraq at the specific request of al-Zarqawi. An assessment by a Western intelligence agency is that al-Iraqi was not needed for operations in Iraq, which have been relentless and spectacular, but that he may be used to train new terrorists who can be sent back to Europe and beyond.

Intelligence and security agencies around the world have worried about Iraq "blow-back," of confronting radicalized, highly motivated and well trained terrorists on their return to their home countries, much as the Afghan generation of jihadists who fought the Soviet occupation returned to cause problems in the Persian Gulf states, Europe and beyond.

Iraq is now such a potent tool in the hands of Islamist recruiters that experts such as Bruguiere believe the capture or killing of al-Zarqawi would have little or no impact on the threat of terrorist strikes in Europe or America.

And, possibly, only the resolution of the conflict in Iraq by political means, and the withdrawal of foreign troops, including Americans, could result in reduced threat levels and a reduction in interest in the jihadist cause.

Said one Western intelligence source: "We are not safer, and we are not safe."