Left-Extremist Endeavours

home country. On 16 July, a presumed supporter of the Algerian
"Armed Islamic Group" (GIA) was arrested in the Netherlands,
who (together with two other persons) in Frankfurt/Main on 30
June had, during a vehicle road check, fired aimed shots at police
officers. In the course of that shoot-out, two officers were
seriously injured, and another two suffered slight injuries.
Supporters of Islamist organizations from the Near East - supporters
of the Palestinian "Islamic Resistance Movement"
(Hamas) and of the Lebanese "Hizbollah" (God’s Party) - continued
to criticize the Near East peace process, but confined their
activities in Germany essentially to propaganda and occasional
demonstrations.
As before, threats to internal State security are also posed by leftextremist
Turkish groups. Although the factional fighting - which
in Germany in former years had repeatedly involved use of
firearms - between the "Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-
Front" (DHKP-C) 161) and the "Turkish People’s Liberation
Party/Front - Revolutionary Left" (THKP/C - Devrimci Sol) 162) has
not been continued since February 1998, the two organizations,
which since August 1998 have been banned in Germany, continue
to show a high degree of propensity to violence. On 17
February, three DHKP-C functionaries were sentenced to long
prison terms, inter alia for having been ringleaders in a terrorist
association; criminal proceedings have been instituted against
additional functionaries of this group.
It is not yet possible to make a reliable assessment of the impact
of developments in Kosovo on the Kosovar Albanian groups in
Germany. There are indications of disputes among the various
groups about a Kosovo government that would be acceptable to
them. Tinder to these arguments was, inter alia, provided by the
question as to which organization should have access to the
funds donated by Kosovar Albanians in Germany.
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