Authorities in Germany Detained 2 With al Qaeda Ties
Two were detained for conducting surveillance on American base, sources say.
BERLIN -- May 12, 2007— -- Authorities detained two suspects believed to be part of a cell of the Islamic Jihad Union, an al Qaeda-affiliated Uzbek group, intelligence sources have told ABC News.
The pair has been released and now German authorities are concerned that the two men know they are being watched and may have devised a new plan of attack to time with the G-8 Summit, which is scheduled for June 6 to June 8 in Heiligendamm, Germany.
The global summit will draw leaders from around the world, including President George Bush. Britain was hosting the same event two years ago when the London transportation system was bombed -- a fact not lost on the summit's planners and a terrorist tactic that has become familiar.
"The Islamist radical groups like to embarrass countries that are hosting international meetings by attacking in the country either immediately before or after international meetings," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterror advisor.
On Friday, ABCNews.com reported that U.S. air marshals are being diverted to provide expanded protection of flights between Germany and the United States. Of particular concern, according to U.S. and German law enforcement officials, is Patch Barracks, the headquarters for U.S. European Command, near Stuttgart.
Security at all U.S. military and diplomatic facilities has been increased in the last month following reports that suspected terrorists had conducted surveillance of a U.S. military installation in Southern Germany.
Germany is sensitive to terror concerns: Sept. 11 ringleader Mohammed Atta lived in Hamburg, Germany; in 2004, three Iraqis were arrested by German authorities for planning an attack on the Iraqi prime minister; and in 2006, a pair of bombs were placed on regional trains but failed to detonate.
Retired Col. Andrew Pratt, of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, said that 300 to 500 people are suspected of being members of al Qaeda cells in Germany.
"They're here," Pratt said, "and when those people are embedded in a country, you have to be very concerned."
Finally, Germany's tourism season now is under way. As concerns about terrorism activity continue to rise, so to will the security level.