[NYC-L] fwd:Greeks Probe Muslims Ahead of Olympics

[Jeton Ademaj]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&e=4&u=/ap/20040323/ap_on_sp_ol/oly_olympics_muslims

Greeks Probe Muslims Ahead of Olympics
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By DEREK GATOPOULOS, Associated Press Writer

ATHENS, Greece - Greek police have increased scrutiny of Muslim immigrant 
groups and makeshift mosques in Athens — a city with no official place of 
worship for Muslims — ahead of the Aug. 13-29 Olympics.

The surveillance, confirmed to The Associated Press by police sources, was 
intensified following the deadly train bombings in Madrid on March 11 and 
seeks to gain insights into Greece's small and often insular communities of 
nonnative Muslims.

Greece has no record of Muslim extremist activity — as in other parts of 
Europe such as France or Britain — and many immigrants from the Middle East 
and elsewhere exist on the margins of Greek society in off-the-books jobs or 
as day laborers.

Greece has struggled with domestic terror, most notably from the far-left 
group November 17, which targeted U.S. and other Western officials. The 
group was broken up and 15 of its members were jailed last year, leaving 
police to deal with a few minor homegrown militants.

Authorities have only a sketchy perception of the Muslim community. 
Information is so sparse that even population figures for immigrants in 
Greece are based on guesswork.

The flow of immigrants who try to slip into Greece never stops. Thousands of 
illegal migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe head to 
Greece each year, causing concern among those in charge of Olympic security 
— an effort that is costing more than $800 million and involves 50,000 
police and troops.

European Union (news - web sites) security officials, at an emergency 
meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday, said they are considering closer 
cross-border cooperation to fight terrorism.

"The EU has very limited resources for that kind of thing at the moment," 
said Daniel Keohane, a security and defense analyst at the Center for 
European Reform in London. "Al-Qaida does not respect borders."

This is one of chief worries for Greek authorities. There are many ways to 
sneak into Greece: over mountains from Balkan neighbors or aboard ships run 
by smugglers from Turkey. Some Greek islands are just a few minutes' boat 
ride from the Turkish mainland.

Trying to keep up with the evolving immigrant population is a major task. 
Greek intelligence officials are expanding screening and profiling of people 
caught entering the country illegally. Police, meanwhile, have increased 
document checks and inspections on some two dozen makeshift mosques around 
Athens.

Greek authorities would not give details of the operations. But police 
sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the surveillance has been 
expanded following the Spanish attacks and local Muslims have been recruited 
to give insights into the various Muslim groups.

The effort is complicated by the fact Greece has no official mosque or 
central gathering points for Muslims. Private prayer sites have been created 
out of basements, warehouses and empty building spaces.

At a converted coffee shop with painted-over windows, construction workers 
from Egypt, clothing makers from Syria, and street vendors from Iraq (news - 
web sites) gather to hear readings from the Quran.

"I don't know what the 300 people who come here for prayers are doing," said 
the prayer leader, Kassem Breash, a Palestinian who came to Greece from 
Lebanon in 1990. "The police and the crime squad have come many times. But 
they are polite and they don't bother anyone."

Plans to build an Islamic center and mosque — the first in Athens since 
Ottoman times — have stalled following opposition from local residents and 
the powerful Greek Orthodox Church.

Estimates of the number of Muslims in Athens vary considerably — from around 
50,000 to 100,000. There are also an estimated 500,000 immigrants from 
Albania, which has a mixed Christian and Muslim population.

The immigrants are distinct from Greece's native 120,000-strong Muslim 
minority, mostly ethnic Turks who live in the northeast of the country where 
many mosques operate.

Human rights groups say additional scrutiny of immigrant groups before the 
Athens Games is understandable, but warn against profiling and say building 
a legal mosque would help.

"When (mosques) are illegal, then what you're afraid of is more likely to 
happen," said Panayote Dimitras of the rights group Greek Helsinki Monitor.

Insecurity runs deep in the Muslim community.

"I think (2004) will be difficult for immigrants," said Moawia Ahmed, a 
soft-spoken Internet cafe owner from Sudan. "There will be deportations 
before the Olympic games as a security measure. Many people believe this."

"In a single day they may stop me in the street to check my papers three, 
four or five times," said Ahmed, who runs an immigrant support network. "We 
stand out."

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