TERRORISM THREAT PROMPTS U.S. TO ISSUE TRAVEL ALERT FOR EUROPE

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 WARNING ISSUED DUE TO  AL QAEDA ATTACKS THAT MAY BE EMINENT IN FRANCE, BRITAIN & GERMANY

East County News Service

 

Update Oct. 3, 2010 (Washington D.C.) - The U.S. State Department has issued an alert recommending that Americans traveling to Europe register their travel plans with the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy. Citizens are urged to get information on general security issues at the Department's website, CNN confirmed today. 
 

 BBC News in London reported last night that the U.S.officials confirm the U.S. plans to issue a travel alert warning citizens to be “vigilant while travelling in Europe because of the threat of an al-Qaeda commando-style attack.”  The advisory comes in response to intelligence indicating an al-Qaeda plan to send teams of gunmen into crowded places to kill western civilians, similar to the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 173 people, the BBC reports.

 

The British media outlet cites intelligence sources indicating that Al-Qaeda planned to carry out coordinated attacks in cities in the UK, France and Germany.

The New York Times confirmed last night that  “a travel alert would merely urge extra caution during a specific time and would not discourage Americans from visiting Europe,”  adding that European officials have been concerned about the impact on tourism if the stronger warning was issued.

Last week, U.S. intelligence officials revealed that they were investigating reports of possible attacks on European cities, including information from a German citizen of Afghan origin captured in Afghanistan in July. The German, said to be named Ahmed Sidiqi, 36, from Hamburg, had traveled to the Waziristan region of Pakistan and received firearms and explosives training, a senior European official told The New York Times.

 

Sidiqi described plans for attacks by small armed groups in European cities, according to the official. Other officials have said such attacks might be modeled on the 2008 assault in Mumbai. Those attacks, attributed to a radical Islamic group based in Pakistan, killed at least 173 people.

 

Today's CNN report notes that military bases are also increasing security precautions and cite a senior U.S. official who said the situation is "serious."
 


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