Militants see crisis as sign of West's weakness

By Kerstin Gehmlich

BERLIN (Reuters) - The global financial crisis has emboldened some Islamist militants who see it as proof the Western system is flawed and can be defeated, the head of Germany's foreign intelligence agency said.

Ernst Uhrlau, the head of the BND, the German equivalent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), told Reuters it was too early to judge whether recent financial woes would help militants recruit new adherents, but suggested it had become a topic of debate in Islamist forums.

"We're hearing some first voices on this. Some see the fact that the United States has been so shattered by the financial crisis, and that its dominant role in the world is shaken, as confirmation the West can be beaten," he said in an interview.

The crisis, which grew out of troubles in the U.S. mortgage market, has snowballed since last month, causing major upheaval in the banking sector and stoking fears of a worldwide recession. Some have likened the uncertainty to the period following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Uhrlau, who has headed the BND since 2005, said Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda had suffered serious setbacks in the past few years, making it questionable whether the group was still capable of staging attacks of this dimension.

"I would assume they will stick to conventional attacks," Uhrlau said in an interview on Monday for release on Wednesday. He cited better intelligence and the killing and arrests of top al Qaeda deputies.

CHE GUEVARA