Report: Al-Qaeda sent operatives to Germany, Britain

Report: Al-Qaeda sent operatives to Germany, Britain

2010-11-17 21:31:24 GMT+7 (ICT)

BERLIN (BNO NEWS) -- Germany on Wednesday said the country's security agencies have evidence that two to four potential terrorists are planning to attack Germany and the UK within weeks, officials and media reports said.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that police and other authorities would step up security at airports and railway stations because "there is reason for concern, but not for hysteria."

The minister announced the extra security "until further notice" after a tip-off from an unnamed country, but German daily Tagesspiegel identified the source as the U.S. intelligence services.

"Measures will be taken throughout Germany at points that we believe are particularly worth of protection," De Maiziere told a news conference in Berlin. He added that Germany's Federal Criminal Office has confirmed that people tied to Islamic militants are plotting to attack Germany.

"The indications are concrete, but it can't be a provocation and it can't push us to completely change our public life," De Maiziere said.

The U.S. told Germany a week ago that the attackers were due to arrive in Germany on November 22, German news agency DPA reported, quoting the Tagesspiegel daily.

According to DPA, the mastermind behind the attack is Mohammed Ilyas Kashmiri, a leading al-Qaeda Pakistani figure from Pakistan, and he and other operatives were to travel via India and the United Arab Emirates.

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