Word: abouhalima
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...September 1981, Abouhalima was granted a visa to visit Germany as a tourist. It was a good time to leave Egypt. Earlier that month Anwar Sadat had arrested some 2,000 Islamic intellectuals, clerics and fundamentalists who opposed him. One week after Abouhalima departed, militants killed the Egyptian President. Meanwhile, in Munich, Abouhalima sought political asylum, claiming that he faced persecution in Egypt because of his membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist party that was then facing a harsh crackdown...
...Abouhalima moved into the Islamic Center, located in a suburb on Munich's north side, which is home to a large immigrant Muslim community. The center boasts a futuristic blue mosque, dormitory-style accommodations where arrivals like Abouhalima can stay, as well as instruction in the Koran. But Abouhalima's newfound comfort was shattered in October 1982, when his request for asylum was denied. The reason: if Abouhalima had never participated in crimes, as he maintained, he should have nothing to fear from the Egyptian authorities. Germany gave him two weeks to leave the country...
...Luckily for him, by that time Abouhalima had moved in with Egyptian friends who lived in an apartment building in Munich. Across the hall resided a 34- year-old German named Renate Soika, a nurse with a history of alcoholism and emotional problems. As far as Abouhalima was concerned, it was a perfect match. The wedding took place at city hall in December, enabling him to remain in Germany...
Soika was happy to help Abouhalima stay in Munich. In return, she got a provider who was tall, courteous and confident. It wasn't love exactly, but Mahmud's traditional values appealed to Soika. He prayed five times a day and avoided alcohol. He brought her flowers on her birthday. And he insisted that she quit her job and devote her time to cooking and caring for the home. "He was always polite and friendly," recalls Soika. "He was never violent, never aggressive...
Eager to finish his education in order to become a teacher, Abouhalima took night classes in German and soon spoke the language fluently. He also worked at menial jobs, first as a dishwasher, then behind the meat counter of a grocery store. A former co-worker remembers Abouhalima as a quiet, hardworking man who was constantly tired, but never tardy...