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But that was not all of it. According to friends, Abouhalima developed a deep and growing hatred for Egypt because he felt his country offered little hope for his generation's future. Despite its poverty, Abouhalima's family was several cuts above the norm, which may have created an expectation in the $ young man that a better life was obtainable. His rebellion began in small ways. He started to smoke, but never once lit a cigarette in front of his stern father, a powerful weight lifter who would have disapproved. As a teenager, Abouhalima began to hang around with members of the outlawed al- Jama'a Islamiyya, or Islamic Group, which considered the blind Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman its spiritual guide.
The group, which is committed to making Egypt an Islamic state, was banned on college campuses in 1979. Several times, Abouhalima's friends were rounded up by authorities. Mahmoud Abdel Shafi, an Egyptian lawyer who represents Islamic militants, remembers that Abouhalima occasionally came to him in 1980, at age 20, to get help for friends who had been arrested. "There was a crackdown on Muslim youths who were trying to remain steadfast in their faith," says Shafi. "Mahmud was not planting bombs. He was concerned about what was happening. He simply took it upon himself to try to help those who were in prison."
A year later, Abouhalima quit school and left Egypt. "I think that to him, immigration meant an escape from persecution," says Shafi. "The internal- security forces were watching him. Usually that means you will be detained and imprisoned and the door will start to close. He thought it was time to get out."
SMOKY GATHERINGS IN GERMANY
In 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.