Germany zeros in on Saudi-funded schools
German authorities are investigating a Saudi-funded school in the western city of Bonn, which they fear could be attracting potential “extremists”.
The King Fahd Academy has become a “pole of attraction” for some people who have been linked to probes by federal prosecutors into the al-Qaida network, reported German weekly Der Spiegel on Monday.
The parent of one King Fahd Academy student, among around 500 enrolled there, stood trial in September on suspicion of being linked to a plot to attack Jewish targets in Germany by the al-Tawhid group, it said.
Al-Tawhid’s stated aims include attacking Jews and overthrowing the state of Jordan.
The magazine also said that suspected militants take part in Friday prayers at the school mosque.
Authorities have apparently been keeping an eye on Saudi diplomatic missions in Germany for the last few months, reported Spiegel.
US investigators believe the northern German city of Hamburg served as a rear base for some of the plotters behind the 11 September, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
Three of the plane’s hijackers lived and studied there for years without coming to the attention of the authorities.