BERLIN, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Germany's interior minister says he is afraid of an elevated terror threat because the number of Germans converting to Islam has quadrupled in recent years.
Between July 2004 and June 2005, some 4,000 Germans converted to Islam, four times more cases than in the year before, according to a study on Islamic life in Germany, financed by the Interior Ministry.
"This is somewhat threatening," German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said, adding he expects the terror threat in Germany to rise.
"I am of course not saying that every convert is a potential terrorist," he said. "But we have to acknowledge that the phenomenon of home grown terrorism is on the rise (in Germany)."
He added that some individuals with a Turkish background sport "a dangerous affinity to radical Islamism."
His comments were harshly criticized by Islamic organizations and opposition politicians, who argued that Schaeuble was severely hurting the integration process of foreigners living in Germany by artificially fueling fear of Muslims.
Schaeuble, Germany's top security official, in the past has raised eyebrows for trying to push through stringent anti-terror measures.
