Interior Minister Otto Schily said on Monday that German authorities had foiled terror attacks planned following the September 11, 2001 suicide plane strikes in the United States, but urged continued vigilance. Opening a European police congress, he said German law enforcement agencies were currently involved in 182 probes against suspected extremists. Schily said the BKA federal crime office had chased up around 25,600 leads in just under two and a half years since the deadly attacks in Washington and New York. Authorities succeeded in undermining plotting for attacks and preventing terrorist actions, but he warned that despite their outstanding and successful work, the terrorist threat must not be under-estimated. "The Al-Qaeda network blamed for the 2001 attacks was still functioning and capable of action," he went on. It meant the fight against terrorism remained a highly acute task for the international community.
In an interview earlier on ZDF public television, he said Germany must be prepared for the worst so that "we are aware of plotting for attacks as early as possible." But he said the US system of alerts, colour-coded depending on how serious they were assessed, was not suitable for this country. "We must be very careful that we don’t spread panic among people," he told ZDF, while still maintaining the highest level of watchfulness. |