A pair of radical Islamic State fanatics are facing terrorist charges after plotting to blow up a church in Sweden.
The Syrian-born brothers, Anas and Ahmed Kiwan, 29 and 24, wanted to detonate a bomb in a packed chapel in a twisted revenge attack, say prosecutors.
Earlier this year, the older brother had consulted IS contacts and told them about the plot, the trial in Hamburg, Germany, will hear.
When police raided his home, they found two kilogrammes of urea fertiliser and citric acid ready for the making of a DIY bomb.
He still needed carbamide bleach to complete the deadly device, which he had already ordered online, say prosecutors.
Ahmed Kiwan is accused of agreeing to carry out the attack and of helping his brother obtain bomb-making ingredients.
Senior Public Prosecutor Liddy Oechtering said: “With these components, together with other substances, the accused could actually have made an explosive device.”
The brothers dreamed up the sick plot, say prosecutors, as revenge for public burnings of copies of the Quran in Sweden.
Prosecutors say Anas Kiwan had a meeting with a member of the IS-backing Al-Saqri Foundation known only as ‘Emir’ to plot the attack.
Newsflash obtained a statement from the Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office on 4th October saying: “The Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office – Central Office of State Security – has brought charges against two Syrian brothers aged 29 and 24 with the Hamburg Higher Regional Court.”
Under German privacy laws, Anas Kiwan can only be named in documents as An. K. and Ahmad Kiwan as Ah. K.
The statement went on: “An. K. is accused of attempting to become a member of a terrorist organisation abroad, preparing a serious act of violence that endangers the state, and financing terrorism.
“Ah. K., from the point of view of the General Prosecutor’s Office, is sufficiently suspected of supporting a terrorist organisation abroad and aiding and abetting terrorist financing.”
They described the plot as a radical Islamic-motivated attack saying: “The aim of which was to kill and injure a large number of people.”
The prosecutors explained: “On 14th April 2023, An. K. explained and expressed his plans to an unidentified member of the ‘IS’-affiliated Al-Saqri Foundation for Military Sciences, who called himself ‘Emir’, to carry out the attack in a church in Sweden on a day when there was a crowd there and when many people had gathered. An. K. wanted to react violently to the Quran burnings in Sweden.”
They added that Ah. K. “is accused of having agreed to take part in the alleged attack on behalf of ‘IS'” and of helping his brother to obtain the explosive materials.”
The brothers are in custody awaiting trial.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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