Iraq insurgency 'could groom extremists for terror in Europe'

Ireland Online:

Foreigners fighting alongside insurgents in Iraq may build the skills and network needed for terror attacks in Europe, Danish military intelligence warned today.

“Those who survive harvest experience and create networks that can be used elsewhere,” Danish Defence Intelligence Service, or DDIS, said in its 52-page annual report. It called Iraq “a magnet for foreign extremists".

The report said there is a risk of small-scale terror attacks, as well as more complex actions against unprotected targets, in Europe.

However, it said major terror attacks in Europe “are less likely because they are difficult to carry out without being discovered".

The agency noted that globalisation, with the freer movement of people and goods, has also opened the door for the spread of organised crime and arms, including weapons of mass destruction.

However, it deemed the risk of terrorists’ obtaining large chemical and biological arms relatively low.

“On the other hand, there is a risk that terrorists will use simple chemical and biological arms, or radiological weapons, in terror attacks,” the agency said.

It also said that many in the Muslim world see the West’s policies in the Israel-Palestine conflict or places like Iraq as “unjust and hypocritical which increases support for anti-Western movements".

The report came a year after the agency’s head held the DDIS’ first-ever news conference, issued the agency’s first annual report and opened a website in a move toward greater openness.

The agency’s tasks include gathering foreign intelligence and overseeing the security of Danish military installations.

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