July 23, 2010: Germany has established a hot-line for Islamic extremists who want to calm down and get out of the radical life. This is often difficult, as members of terrorist cells are constantly watching each other for signs of weakness. Those who try to quit are risking a beating, or worse. So the new program offers such radicals free relocation and a new job, far away from their current radical companions. The hot line is also available to family members who want to request help in getting their kin away from radicalized friends. The government is not releasing much other information on the program (called Hatif, or “phone” in Arabic).
Germany has about four million Moslems, and counter-terrorism officials estimate there are about 36,000 Islamic radicals among them. Only a few percent of these extremists are believed radicalized enough to be capable of carrying out a terrorist attack, or participating in a group that is. Germany has not suffered any terror attacks since September 11, 2001, but there have been many arrests and investigations that have disrupted potential attacks, or caught people who were planning attacks in other countries.
The new program expected to reduce the expense of keeping an eye on so many potential terrorists, and give those who have second thoughts, an easy way out.
