Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts

Sunday, October 3, 2010

US Issues Travel Alert For Americans In Europe

The US State Department issued a travel alert on Sunday for American traveling in Europe after Western intelligence agencies last week uncovered an Al Qaeda plot to wage attacks on European cities. The US State Department issued a travel alert Sunday to urge Americans traveling to Europe to use caution and vigilance in the wake of a terrorist plot uncovered last week to attack major European cities.

"Current information suggests that Al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks," warns the alert. "US citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling."

The alert also warns that terrorists might attack public transportation systems and "tourist infrastructure."

The alert is not a travel warning, which would advise Americans from traveling to Europe. But it underlines how seriously officials are taking the recent Al Qaeda threat against Europe.

The Associated Press reports that the US did not meet strong opposition from European leaders when it informed them of the plan to issue the alert. But the New York Times reports that European officials have been worried about the effect such an action could have on tourism and student travel to Europe.

Al Qaeda plot

A US official told the AP the travel alert is “a cumulative result of information the US has received over an extended period.” But it comes after the revelation last week that Western intelligence agencies had uncovered an Al Qaeda plot to wage attacks on European cities. The Monitor reported that the plan was reportedly to mimic the style of the deadly attack on Mumbai in 2008, with small teams of heavily-armed militants moving in teams to capture and execute Westerners in Britain, France, and Germany.

Al Qaeda militants in Pakistan were reportedly behind the attack, and intelligence agencies have said that Osama bin Laden was possibly involved personally. The plot may have been uncovered when authorities detained a German terror suspect in Afghanistan in July.
Link to drone strikes in Pakistan?


Media reports have linked the plot to US drone strikes in Pakistan. But it is unclear whether the Al Qaeda plot was an attempt to respond to the drone strikes, or whether the strikes were intended to disrupt the plot – or both. The Wall Street Journal reports that the number of reported drone attacks in Pakistan doubled in September, up to 22.

Regardless of the reason for the reported plot to attack Europe, officials appear to be reacting with seriousness.

In addition to the travel alert, Sweden announced Friday that it has raised its terror alert to the highest status, reports The Guardian. France has been hit particularly hard: the Eiffel Tower in Paris was evacuated twice in September after bomb threats and a warning was issued about a female suicide bomber targeting public transit. The Monitor reported that France has been unusually shaken by the recent threats.

The terror warnings have put Europe on alert and caused France, which prides itself in taking something of a phlegmatic view of the threat of terrorism, to increase its terror alert to “red plus” – the second-highest level. France's uncharacteristic cautiousness could signal the seriousness of recent threats, say security analysts, and suggests a new attitude emerging in France toward security.

www.csmonitor.com

Monday, August 9, 2010

German Authorities Close Mosque Where Sept. 11 Attackers Once Met

Christoph Ahlhaus, secretary of interior of the city of Hamburg, speaks during a press conference about the closing of the a mosque and the ban of Arab-German culuture organization "Taiba" in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. The Hamburg mosque formerly known as the al-Quds mosque and now named Taiba mosque that was once frequented by some of the Sept. 11 attackers was closed Monday by German authorities, who said they believed it is now a meeting-point for Islamic radicals again. The Taiba mosque was shut down and the cultural association that runs it was banned, a statement by Hamburg officials said. (AP Photo/dapd/Axel Heimken) (Axel Heimken, AP / August 9, 2010)

BERLIN (AP) — A Hamburg mosque once frequented by some of the Sept. 11 attackers was shut down Monday because German authorities believed the prayer house was again being used as a meeting point for Islamic radicals.

The Taiba mosque was closed and the cultural association that runs it was banned, Hamburg officials said in a statement.

"We have closed the mosque because it was a recruiting and meeting point for Islamic radicals who wanted to participate in so-called jihad or holy war," said Frank Reschreiter, a spokesman for Hamburg's state interior ministry.

He said that 20 police officers were searching the building and had confiscated material, including several computers. He was not aware of any arrests.

However, the homes of leading members of the cultural association were searched and the group's assets were confiscated, the Hamburg state government said in a statement.

Authorities have said the prayer house, until two years ago known as the al-Quds mosque, was a meeting and recruiting point years ago for some of the Sept. 11 attackers before they moved to the United States. Ringleader Mohamed Atta as well as Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah had studied in Hamburg and frequented al-Quds mosque.

Reschreiter said Monday marked the first time the mosque had been closed, and that it had been under observation by local intelligence officers for "quite a long time."

A 2009 report by the Hamburg branch of Germany's domestic intelligence agency also said the mosque had again become the "center of attraction for the jihad scene" in the northern port city.

"Latest developments have shown that the training courses, sermons and seminars by the association as well texts published on the group's home page not only violate the constitution but also radicalize listeners and readers," Monday's statement said.

By Monday morning, the group's home page on the Web had been taken down and it was not possible to reach any members directly.

It said some people who belonged to the mosque's cultural association and prayed there had traveled to a radical training camp in Uzbekistan.

A group of 11 militants that traveled to military training camps in Uzbekistan in March 2009 was formed at Taiba mosque, the report said.

Most of the group's members were either German converts, of Middle Eastern origin or from the Caucasus region.

"A very important factor for the radicalization of the group members was certainly their joint visits to the mosque," the intelligence report stated.

It appears that one man from the group joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a terrorist organization in Central Asia, the report said.

www.dailypress.com

Monday, June 7, 2010

Helen Thomas, Vetenan Reporter, Retires

Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas is retiring in the wake of controversial comments she made about Israel.

Hearst News Service, for which Thomas is a columnist, reported her retirement announcement Monday.

Her retirement is effective immediately. She began covering the White House in 1960.

Thomas has apologized for the comments, which were captured on video by an interviewer for the website “RabbiLIVE.com.”

On the May 27 video, Thomas says Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine," suggesting they go to Germany, Poland or the U.S.

Those remarks drew sharp criticism from the Obama administration earlier Monday, as well as the cancellation of a high school graduation speech she was to deliver.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked at his daily briefing with reporters about President Barack Obama's reaction to Thomas' remarks. Gibbs called them "offensive and reprehensible."

"She should and has apologized," Gibbs said. "Because obviously those remarks do not reflect certainly the opinion of most of the people here and certainly not of the administration."

Thomas had been scheduled to speak at the June 14 graduation of Walt Whitman High School in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Md., but Principal Alan Goodwin wrote in a Sunday e-mail to students and parents that she was being replaced.

"Graduation celebrations are not the venue for divisiveness," Goodwin wrote.

She added: "They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

The national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham H. Foxman, said Sunday that Thomas' apology didn't go far enough.

"Her suggestion that Israelis should go back to Poland and Germany is bigoted and shows a profound ignorance of history," Foxman said in a statement. "We believe Thomas needs to make a more forceful and sincere apology for the pain her remarks have caused."

Thomas, 89, began her long career with the wire service United Press International in 1943, and started covering the White House in 1960, according to a biography posted on her website. She became a columnist for Hearst in 2000.