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| Europe |
| German Police Seal Off Hospital After Bomb Warning |
| 2003-12-30 |
| German police and soldiers sealed off a military hospital in Hamburg on Tuesday after receiving information that Islamic militants planned a car bomb attack on the building. "We have firm indications pointing to individuals planning an attack on the hospital with a car bomb," a police spokesman said, adding that the suspects were believed to come from the "Islamic terrorist scene." A car bomb in a hospital, sounds holy to me. About 100 police officers secured the German military hospital and police and troops cordoned off surrounding streets, searching parked cars and deploying two armored vehicles. Police sources said security services had information pointing to two Islamic militants with connections to the al Qaeda network, who were believed to have been planning suicide attacks in Hamburg and Frankfurt. The Germans have been arresting and putting turbans in jail, that makes them a target. Hamburg came under the spotlight after September 11 because three of the 19 suicide hijackers had lived and studied for years in the northern city. Hamburg state Interior Minister Dirk Nockemann said those suspected of plotting car bombings were connected to the Ansar al-Islam group, which Washington says is active in fighting its troops in Iraq and has ties to al Qaeda. Car bombs are Ansar’s weapon of choice. "We received indications that an attack could be planned, possibly over the New Year or in the following days," he said. Officials in Frankfurt said no special security measures were in place in addition to the already high security at airports and U.S. bases. Germans take security very seriously, they’ve had practice with their own groups. German media said the Hamburg hospital treated U.S. soldiers who had served in Iraq but a U.S. military spokesman in Germany said he was unaware of any American servicemen at the facility. He also said it would be unusual for any to be treated in Hamburg, far to the north of the main U.S. bases in southern Germany. Any US wounded would be treated at Landstuhl General Hospital, next door to Ramstein AB. A German defense ministry spokesman declined to comment on who was treated at the hospital. Maybe German wounded from Afghanistan? They’d be a target for that as well. Nockemann said the warning was initially passed to German authorities by U.S. security services. A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Berlin declined to comment. Nockemann said police were keeping in mind the possibility that militants could have infiltrated hospital services or suppliers and were conducting strict controls. Lots of immigrants doing manual labor, washing floors, laundry, etc. I’d be checking those. Germany has been especially vigilant for signs of extremism in its 3.2 million-strong Muslim population since the September 11 attacks. Aufenthaltalarm, Freunde. Verriegelung und Last. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 The warning came from the CIA. There are no Americans currently treated in that hospital. We do take CIA warnings more seriously than the French. Germany recently bagged a few Ansar leaders. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-12-30 7:43:12 PM |