GERMANY: German police and soldiers sealed off a military hospital in Hamburg yesterday 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".
About 100 police officers secured the German military hospital and police and troops cordoned off surrounding streets, searching parked cars and deploying two armoured vehicles. Police sources said security services had information pointing to two Islamic militants with connections to al-Qaeda, who were believed to have been planning suicide attacks in Hamburg and Frankfurt.
Hamburg came under the spotlight after September 11th because three of the 19 suicide hijackers had lived for years in the northern city. Hamburg State Interior Minister, Mr 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.
"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 US bases. German media said the Hamburg hospital treated US soldiers who had served in Iraq but a US 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 US bases in southern Germany. A German defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on who was treated at the hospital.
Mr Nockemann said the warning was passed to German authorities by US security services.