Green Energy
Newsmax:
Suspected Bomb Found in Plane Bound for Munich
Thursday, November 18, 2010 7:36 AM
BERLIN — A suspected bomb in a suitcase checked in on a German-bound plane was intercepted in Namibia, Germany's Federal Crime Office (BKA) said Thursday, one day after Berlin raised its terror alert level.
The BKA said the suspicious baggage had been seized Wednesday at the international airport in Windhoek before it was due to be loaded on to an LTU/Air Berlin flight to Munich.
"A subsequent X-ray (of the luggage) revealed batteries that were attached with wires to a detonator and a ticking clock," it said in a statement.
"Only the ongoing forensic investigation will show whether this was a live explosive."
Passengers on the flight as well as all luggage in the hold and the aircraft itself underwent subsequent checks before the plane was given clearance to take off.
"They arrived in Munich safe and sound last night," the statement said.
The BKA said it dispatched officers in South Africa to Namibia, a former German colony, to aid in the investigation and planned to send further experts to examine the suspected bomb.
The German government hiked security measures at rail stations, airports and other public spaces Wednesday following a tip-off from a "foreign partner" about an attack by extremists planned this month.
"Since the middle of 2010, the security services have noticed increased indications that the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda has been planning attacks in the United States, in Europe and in Germany," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said.
Citing security sources, the Tagesspiegel daily reported Thursday that the United States had told Berlin that between two and four Al-Qaeda operatives were on their way to Germany and Britain to attempt attacks.
Among the targets Tagesspiegel cited were Germany's popular Christmas markets. The paper added the militants were expected to arrive in Germany on November 22 via India or the United Arab Emirates.
Last month authorities discovered two US-bound parcel bombs originating from Yemen, one of which went through Cologne airport in western Germany.
And on November 2, an explosive device arrived by post at Chancellor Angela Merkel's office in what De Maiziere said was likely a suspected attack by Greek radicals.
The head of Germany's police union, Konrad Freiberg, warned Thursday there were "security deficits" in the country and that it was underprepared for a terrorist attack.
"We have missed a few steps along the way and there are security deficits that we have drawn attention to," he told the Hamburger Abendblatt daily.
Germany, which opposed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq but has nearly 5,000 troops in Afghanistan under NATO command, has never experienced an attack by Muslim extremists on its own soil.
But authorities say the Islamist scene is large and dangerous.
The closest it has come to an attack was in July 2006 when Islamic militants placed suitcases with homemade bombs on two regional trains at Cologne's main station. They failed to detonate, averting an almost certain bloodbath.
Three of the September 11, 2001 hijackers including their ringleader Mohammed Atta, who flew the first plane into the World Trade Center, lived in the northern German city of Hamburg before moving to the United States.
-
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Green Energy
Newsmax:
Suspected Bomb Found in Plane Bound for Munich
Thursday, November 18, 2010 7:36 AM
BERLIN — A suspected bomb in a suitcase checked in on a German-bound plane was intercepted in Namibia, Germany's Federal Crime Office (BKA) said Thursday, one day after Berlin raised its terror alert level.
The BKA said the suspicious baggage had been seized Wednesday at the international airport in Windhoek before it was due to be loaded on to an LTU/Air Berlin flight to Munich.
"A subsequent X-ray (of the luggage) revealed batteries that were attached with wires to a detonator and a ticking clock," it said in a statement.
"Only the ongoing forensic investigation will show whether this was a live explosive."
Passengers on the flight as well as all luggage in the hold and the aircraft itself underwent subsequent checks before the plane was given clearance to take off.
"They arrived in Munich safe and sound last night," the statement said.
The BKA said it dispatched officers in South Africa to Namibia, a former German colony, to aid in the investigation and planned to send further experts to examine the suspected bomb.
The German government hiked security measures at rail stations, airports and other public spaces Wednesday following a tip-off from a "foreign partner" about an attack by extremists planned this month.
"Since the middle of 2010, the security services have noticed increased indications that the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda has been planning attacks in the United States, in Europe and in Germany," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said.
Citing security sources, the Tagesspiegel daily reported Thursday that the United States had told Berlin that between two and four Al-Qaeda operatives were on their way to Germany and Britain to attempt attacks.
Among the targets Tagesspiegel cited were Germany's popular Christmas markets. The paper added the militants were expected to arrive in Germany on November 22 via India or the United Arab Emirates.
Last month authorities discovered two US-bound parcel bombs originating from Yemen, one of which went through Cologne airport in western Germany.
And on November 2, an explosive device arrived by post at Chancellor Angela Merkel's office in what De Maiziere said was likely a suspected attack by Greek radicals.
The head of Germany's police union, Konrad Freiberg, warned Thursday there were "security deficits" in the country and that it was underprepared for a terrorist attack.
"We have missed a few steps along the way and there are security deficits that we have drawn attention to," he told the Hamburger Abendblatt daily.
Germany, which opposed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq but has nearly 5,000 troops in Afghanistan under NATO command, has never experienced an attack by Muslim extremists on its own soil.
But authorities say the Islamist scene is large and dangerous.
The closest it has come to an attack was in July 2006 when Islamic militants placed suitcases with homemade bombs on two regional trains at Cologne's main station. They failed to detonate, averting an almost certain bloodbath.
Three of the September 11, 2001 hijackers including their ringleader Mohammed Atta, who flew the first plane into the World Trade Center, lived in the northern German city of Hamburg before moving to the United States.
-
Front Page Mag: Germany on High Alert Posted by Ryan Mauro Germany has gone on high alert until next year due to a suspected impending terrorist attack on the country. It has been reported that the Reichstag parliament building is one target, but it could...
- Germany Warns Of Imminent Terror Attacks
From the Local: German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière on Wednesday warned the government had indications Islamists were planning terrorist attacks in Germany later this month. “There is information from our foreign partners that planned attacks...
- Uk's Daily Mail: "new Al Qaeda Plot To Blow Up Planes Smashed"
From the Daily Mail: Police have smashed a suspected al Qaeda terror cell nursing a "profound hatred of US citizens" plotting to bomb civilian and military jets. The force of the planned explosions would have been worse than the train bombings in...
- Big German Terror Bust
Have you noticed all the terror busts in the past few days? Arrests in Norway. In Denmark. And now, one in Germany: FRANKFURT, Sept. 5 — The police in Germany have arrested three Islamic militants suspected of planning major terrorist attacks against...
- German Government Publishes Images Of Suspects
German police now say that the bombs found in trains in Germany last month were primed to go off. "We're accusing as yet unknown suspects of having tried to ignite unconventional flammable and explosive devices on July 31, 2006, in the cities of Dortmund...