Top ISIS Recruiter in Germany Goes on Trial

A 33-year-old Iraqi known as Abu Walaa, accused of recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria arrives in a courtroom in Celle, Germany September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Julian Stratenschulte/POOL
A 33-year-old Iraqi known as Abu Walaa, accused of recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria arrives in a courtroom in Celle, Germany September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Julian Stratenschulte/POOL
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Top ISIS Recruiter in Germany Goes on Trial

A 33-year-old Iraqi known as Abu Walaa, accused of recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria arrives in a courtroom in Celle, Germany September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Julian Stratenschulte/POOL
A 33-year-old Iraqi known as Abu Walaa, accused of recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria arrives in a courtroom in Celle, Germany September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Julian Stratenschulte/POOL

Amid strict security measures, Abu Walaa, aged 33 and from Iraq, appeared before the supreme court in the northern German town of Celle along with four others accused of belonging to a terrorist organization.

The Public Prosecution described Abu Walaa as ISIS top militant in Germany. Besides accusing him of recruiting militants for ISIS and fighting in Iraq more than once, the Public Prosecution also accused him of inducing killing via the internet.

The court has specified 29 dates for the trial hearings, about two days per week. The trial will be concluded in January of next year and the accused sentence might reach up to 10 years imprisonment.

Abu Walaa was personally supervising the recruiting and smuggling of soldiers to fight with ISIS while his four assistants were in charge of providing forged passports and the amount of money required for the trip as well as teaching “students” how to prepare and use explosives.

He had direct contact with ISIS leader and the security body affiliated with the group. Several nicknames were given to him during the past two years due to his activity as an extremist preacher. One of them is the “Faceless Preacher” because he doesn’t reveal his face in his videos on YouTube.

Der Spiegel newspaper reported that the legal negotiations will give a detailed vision on mechanisms followed by the extremist Islamic network, and this is what makes these hearings so important.

The accused arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker in 2001 and was arrested in November 2016. He has two wives and seven children. Spiegel reported that he had traveled and resided in a vague way in Iraq for a couple of times.



Russia, North Korea Foreign Ministers Meet, Pyongyang Backs Ukraine War

12 July 2025, North Korea, Wonsan: Sergei Lavrov (2nd L), Foreign Minister of Russia, and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui (3rd R) hold a meeting. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
12 July 2025, North Korea, Wonsan: Sergei Lavrov (2nd L), Foreign Minister of Russia, and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui (3rd R) hold a meeting. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
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Russia, North Korea Foreign Ministers Meet, Pyongyang Backs Ukraine War

12 July 2025, North Korea, Wonsan: Sergei Lavrov (2nd L), Foreign Minister of Russia, and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui (3rd R) hold a meeting. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
12 July 2025, North Korea, Wonsan: Sergei Lavrov (2nd L), Foreign Minister of Russia, and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui (3rd R) hold a meeting. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his North Korean counterpart in the coastal city of Wonsan on Saturday, during which Pyongyang reaffirmed its support for Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, the TASS state news agency reported.

Lavrov flew out of Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Friday following the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, arriving the same day in Wonsan, North Korea, home to a newly opened seaside resort but also known for its missile and naval facilities, reported Reuters.

Lavrov's visit is the latest high-level meeting between the two countries as they upgrade their strategic cooperation to now include a mutual defense pact.

"We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis ... Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces," TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

The South Korean intelligence service has said North Korea may be preparing to deploy additional troops in July or August, after sending more than 10,000 soldiers to fight with Russia in the war against Ukraine.

North Korea has agreed to dispatch 6,000 military engineers and builders for reconstruction in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched a mass cross-border incursion nearly a year ago.

Russian news agencies also reported Lavrov's arrival and said after North Korea he is expected to travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, which is set to take place on Monday and Tuesday.

TASS said the new Wonsan coastal resort could boost Russian tourism to North Korea, citing the resumption of direct trains from Moscow to Pyongyang and a project to build a bridge across the Tumen River forming part of the boundary between North Korea, China and Russia.

TASS quoted Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as saying more high-level delegations would visit North Korea later this year.

Rudenko said the accord on strategic partnership "clearly meets the changing needs over recent decades and strengthens traditionally friendly, good-neighborly Russian-Korean relations to a qualitatively new level as allies."