Islamists in Germany

German towns are becoming centers of Islamic extremism:

The towering Ulm cathedral brought pilgrims for centuries to this town on the Bavarian border, but today security officials say a nondescript mosque in an old factory is the new magnet, drawing Islamic extremists around the country.

Intelligence services have been watching the Multicultural House and those associated with it for years, saying they have had contacts with top terror suspects in Germany, including a former top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden.

In coordinated nationwide raids last month, police arrested 15 people on suspicion of belonging to an extremist network allegedly centered on Ulm and neighboring Neu Ulm.

Munich prosecutor Martin Hoffmann, who led the investigation, said he hopes the arrests will shed light on why these quiet twin cities on the Danube - far from the bustling immigrant neighborhoods of places like Berlin - would become so attractive to extremists.

"There must be someone in Neu Ulm and Ulm that makes it so interesting," he said, refusing to elaborate because the investigation is ongoing.

In the Jan. 12 raids, 700 police officers searched 60 mosques, homes and shops across Germany. Suspects included nationals of Germany, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Bulgaria; police said their activities included raising money, producing fake passports, and recruiting people for jihad, or holy war. The Ulm area operation focused on the mosque and an Islamic Information Center.

One of the suspects was believed to have been a member in Duesseldorf of Al Tawhid, while others were linked to Ansar el Islam - both groups with contacts to Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose supporters are fighting U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

The raids were part of a general crackdown on Islamic extremism in Germany that included the apprehension of three Ansar el Islam suspects alleged to have plotted to assassinate Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi when he visited Berlin in December, and the arrest of two others at the end of January on suspicion they belong to al-Qaida.