News Digest

Prominent radical preacher held in Germany on suspicion of supporting terror

A German Islamist preacher has been arrested for recruiting fighters for a militant group in Syria and purchasing and delivering military equipment. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said Sven Lau, 35, is suspected of recruiting Germans living in and around the western German city of Duesseldorf to fight abroad and was believed to have recruited two fighters already. Lau was arrested on Tuesday in the western city of Moenchengladbach on four counts of supporting the group Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, or JAMWA, which was designated a terrorist organization by the United States last year.

With their propaganda glorifying violence and their alleged help for suffering people in war zones, Salafist preachers such as Lau provide a breeding ground for the radicalization of young men.

Ralf Jaeger, North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister

Prosecutors alleged that the 35-year-old was the go-to contact for extremists wanting to fight for JAMWA in Syria and provided financial and material support to the group under the cover of humanitarian aid shipments. The top security official in North Rhine-Westphalia, where Lau was arrested, described him as one of the leading figures in the Salafist scene in that state. Lau, a convert to Islam, made headlines last year when he attempted to establish a Sharia police in the city of Wuppertal to enforce a strict interpretation of Islam. “They are inciting young people to join jihadist terror groups in Syria and Iraq,” said Ralf Jaeger, North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister. Lau’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.