Europe on high terror alert for Christmas
European intelligence and security chiefs are said to be on “tenterhooks” over the “extremely high” threat of a Christmas terror attack by Islamic militants.
A senior French counter-terrorism official told The Associated Press that “all of the warning lights are red”, even though they had yet to uncover any specific plan.
“The threat is at its highest level,” said the French official, who spoke anonymously because of the secretive nature of his job.
“All (security) services are on tenterhooks. And it’s not just us (in France). Work is under way everywhere but nothing concrete is emerging. Ends of the year are often bad. This year we haven’t managed to distinguish a precise plot.”
Those fears were echoed in Britain, already on edge after the alleged failed plot to bring down airliners over the Atlantic in August.
Home Secretary John Reid said last Sunday that it was “highly likely” that terrorists would attempt to mount an attack over the holiday period, when the number of travellers boomed.
Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the head of MI5, has said her agents are tracking almost 30 terrorist plots involving 1,600 suspects, and that at least five major terror plots had been thwarted since the July 2005 bomb attacks in London.
In Washington, US intelligence and law enforcement officials said there was no specific, credible information pointing to a holiday threat.
The FBI recently sent a bulletin to state and local law enforcement agencies, urging them to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity around Christmas the law enforcement official said.
However, the intelligence officials say authorities are more concerned about an attack in Europe than the United States at present.
French prime minister Dominique de Villepin announced earlier this month that he had called in reinforcements for beefed up military patrols of public transportation, railway stations and airports. Some 250 troops are reinforcing the 780 that usually operate in these areas.
Villepin also promised that a 1,000-man reserve force would also be available in case of emergency. France’s terror alert level remains at red, the second-highest rank out of four.
It was not immediately clear what measures, if any, other European nations were planning as Christmas approaches.
In Spain, police said they would beef up security at airports only if they received word of a specific threat. In Italy, officials said security was always put on high alert during the festive season, especially around the Vatican and other sites that attracted pilgrims and tourists.
However, they said there were no extra precautions being taken this year and no word of any specific threat.
This year has seen foiled plots and inflammatory moments. In addition to the alleged airline plot in London, terror schemes were thwarted in Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy.
Islamic anger over the publication of cartoons depicting images of the Prophet Mohammed caused riots throughout the world in January and February, with some Muslim protesters in London holding up banners urging: “Behead those that insult Islam.”
Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on September 12 that seemed to equate Islam with violence also caused outrage and mass protests.
And there were the daily images of carnage in Iraq, Israel’s bloody war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, and continued controversy over the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
