U.S. Extends Alert Over German al Qaeda Threat

U.S. officials extended a travel alert in Germany and urged Americans to remain wary after terrorist organization al Qaeda posted messages in recent months threatening attacks in the country.

The alert issued Thursday will remain in effect until February 10. It replaces one issued in September that expired Wednesday, a news statement said.

It urged Americans in Germany to keep up with news reports and to consider the security procedures in place when they visit hotels, restaurants, and other entertainment and recreation venues.

“Over the past few months, al Qaeda has released videos threatening to conduct terrorist attacks against German interests,” the statement said. “While these threats initially mentioned the German federal elections in September, al Qaeda continues to threaten Germany.”

Germany is investigating all threats, the U.S. State Department said.

via U.S. alert over German al Qaeda threat – CNN.com.

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Germany Raises Terror Alert Level In Response To Threat

The German government raised its terrorism alert level after al Qaeda posted a video on the Internet threatening attacks in Germany if this month’s elections do not come out the way the terrorist organization wants.

“The federal elections offer a special [opportunity] for propaganda and operative activity by terror groups,” the Interior Ministry said on Friday. “A new video posted on September 18 by al Qaeda underlines this. The security services have therefore increased the threat level, which leads to increased security measures especially at airports and railway stations.”

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In his nearly 26-minute video statement, a man identified as Bekay Harrach, using the pseudonym Abu Talha and speaking in German, says that, if the September 27 elections vote into power parties that do not pledge to pull German troops from Afghanistan, there will be a “rude awakening.”

The speaker calls on Muslims in Germany to stay away from public life during the first two weeks after the elections, implying that any attacks would take place then.

via Germany boosts terrorism alert level – CNN.com.

See Related Post – Germany – al Qaeda Releases New Video, Threatens ‘Bad Awakening’

Germany – al Qaeda Releases New Video, Threatens ‘Bad Awakening’

According to a Reuters report, an al-Qaeda spokesman warned Germans that if they don’t vote to change their government in the Sept. 27 national election, there will be a “bad awakening,” according to the U.S.-based IntelCenter.

On the almost 26-minute video, Abu Talha, also known as Bekay Harrach, spoke in German and told Muslims to avoid vital services for two weeks following the election and for Muslim youth to let al-Qaeda act first if jihad is declared in Germany, the Alexandria, Virginia-based IntelCenter said in an e-mailed report.

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Germany Openly Warns of Terror Threat

A recent routine police operation uncovered a possible terror suspect. The development illustrates just how tense the security situation is in Germany, with the government issuing the clearest warnings yet of a possible attack by Islamist terrorists. How much do the country’s security officials know?

The officers were exceedingly polite, waiting for Ali R. to complete his Friday prayers, pack his things and leave the mosque in the western German city of Essen. Only then did they approach the imam and ask him to come with them. They took him to the Büren Prison near the northwestern city of Paderborn, where detainees are held pending deportation. The action was taken in response to a request by the German foreigners registration authority, which had been seeking Ali R., a medical student, since March, because his German residence permit had expired. The officers were not particularly enthusiastic about their mission, which was just another routine police operation. As a result, their search of Ali R., 29, was perfunctory at best.

via The Great Fear: Germany Openly Warns of Terror Threat – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.

Pensioners Kidnap, Torture Financial Advisor Who Lost £2m

Pensioners battered a financial adviser with Zimmer frames before kidnapping and torturing him for losing £2million of their savings.

James Amburn, 56, was ambushed outside his home in Speyer, western Germany, bound with masking tape and bundled into a car boot.

‘It took them quite a while because they ran out of breath,’ said Mr Amburn, who was driven to the Bavarian lakeside home of one of the gang.

Another couple, retired doctors, joined the kidnappers in the cellar where Mr Amburn was chained and tortured for four days last week.

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The alleged kidnapping is the latest example of what is being dubbed “silver crime” — the violent backlash of pensioners who feel cheated by the world.

“As I was letting myself into my front door I was assaulted from behind and hit hard,” the financial adviser James Amburn, said. “Then they bound me with masking tape until I looked like a mummy. I thought I was a dead man.”

He was freed by 40 heavily armed policemen from the counter-terrorist unit last Saturday. The frightened consultant was in his underwear, his body lacerated by wounds allegedly inflicted by angry pensioners.

It appears that two couples had entrusted Mr Amburn’s investment company with €2.4 million (£2 million), which he ploughed into Florida’s boom-and-bust property market. The properties became forfeit during the sub-prime mortgage crisis but the couples wanted their money back.

After being bundled into the boot of an Audi in the west German town of Speyer, Mr Amburn was driven southwards to Chieming, close to the Austrian border, where one of the couples Roland K, and his wife, Sieglinde, 79, had a holiday home.

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Terrorism: Islamists Threaten Terror Attacks In Germany

The Al-Qaeda linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan on Wednesday released a video threatening the “criminal” German government and citizens of the Jewish faith, according to German media.

In the video, the third released this year, shows a man identified as “Commander Mohammad”, who criticises the presence of German troops in Afghanistan.

The man accuses “the sons of Germany of being in the service of the Jews” unlike “Granddad Hitler”.

Investigators believe the video’s release may be linked to a major Islamist terrorism trial which opened on Wednesday at a high-security court in the northwestern German city of Duesseldorf .

In the trial, three Germans and one Turkish national are accused of planning a series of simultaneous bomb attacks against discos and pubs and the United States airbase in Ramstein and against Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

Two of the German suspects are converts to Islam while the third is a German citizen of Turkish descent. They face charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation, plotting murder, and conspiracy to conduct a bomb attack.

The trial is expected to last one to two years. If the defendants are found guilty, they could face prison terms of up to 15 years.

Prosecutors claimed the men were planning to use about 10 times as much explosives as were used in the deadly July 2005 attacks on London transport that killed 56 people and injured thousands.

The plot was at an advanced stage and the attacks could have killed over 50 people, according to police.

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Report: Dirty Bomb Materials Found In Slain Mans Home

James G. Cummings, who police say was shot to death by his wife two months ago, allegedly had a cache of radioactive materials in his home suitable for building a “dirty bomb.”

According to an FBI field intelligence report from the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center posted online by WikiLeaks, an organization that posts leaked documents, an investigation into the case revealed that radioactive materials were removed from Cummings’ home after his shooting death on Dec. 9.

The report posted on the WikiLeaks Web site states that “On 9 December 2008, radiological dispersal device components and literature, and radioactive materials, were discovered at the Maine residence of an identified deceased [person] James Cummings.”

The section referring to Cummings can be read here.

It says that four 1-gallon containers of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide, uranium, thorium, lithium metal, thermite, aluminum powder, beryllium, boron, black iron oxide and magnesium ribbon were found in the home.

Also found was literature on how to build “dirty bombs” and information about cesium-137, strontium-90 and cobalt-60, radioactive materials. The FBI report also stated there was evidence linking James Cummings to white supremacist groups. This would seem to confirm observations by local tradesmen who worked at the Cummings home that he was an ardent admirer of Adolf Hitler and had a collection of Nazi memorabilia around the house, including a prominently displayed flag with swastika. Cummings claimed to have pieces of Hitler’s personal silverware and place settings, painter Mike Robbins said a few days after the shooting.

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Al-Qaeda Releases Video Aimed At Germany

The terrorist network Al-Qaeda has released a new video with a message directed at Germany, a US security organization that specializes in screening Islamist internet pages said Saturday afternoon.

The 30-minute video was made by someone calling himself ‘Abu Talha, the German,’ according to an email sent by the Washington- based IntelCenter.

The video message is titled ‘Rescue Plan for Germany.’

‘This is the most significant and high-profile address by al-Qaeda to Germany and perhaps any European country,’ the center said.

The statement is in German with Arabic subtitles. The substance of the message however was not yet available.