Germany tightens security after Al Qaeda video threat
September 19th, 2009 - 9:58 pm ICT by IANSBerlin, Sep 19 (DPA) German airports and rail stations were under close guard Saturday after an Al Qaeda video threatened the country with a “rude awakening” just a week before a general election.
The speaker in the internet video was a German Islamist, Bekkay Harrach, 32, wearing a jacket and tie.
Using his codename Abu Talha and speaking German, he demanded Berlin withdraw troops from Afghanistan and warned Muslims in Germany to stay away from public places in the two weeks following the Sep 27 election.
Federal police officers wearing heavy bullet-proof vests and toting sub-machine-guns patrolled airports, major railway stations and the street outside Berlin’s Jewish Museum on Friday and Saturday.
Federal police said the Harrach video came after several Islamist threats of a character not previously seen.
Dieter Wiefelspuetz, a Social Democrat member of parliament, said, “It’s consciously linked to the election.” He added that German police took Harrach seriously: “The guy has been on their radar for a while.”
Quotes from the video obtained by DPA included Harrach declaring, “I’ve wanted ever since 1993 to blow myself up for the sake of Allah.”
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