Attack on U.S. facility in Bosnia thwarted

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, OCT. 24. Senior intelligence officials at the NATO headquarters here said a terrorist attack planned on two U.S. military installations in Bosnia was thwarted last week.

The officials indicated that the strike by Islamic terrorists had probably been planned before the September 11 events. This week, about a dozen Islamic militants were taken into custody and four deported to their country of origin, said a spokesman for the United Nations police trading organisation in Bosnia.

Intelligence agencies in Europe and America say there is an ``imminent threat'' of more terror attacks. These include threats to military installations of NATO and to American Embassies in major European capitals. The American Embassy in Paris, for example, has been identified as one of the key targets.

European intelligence agencies are ``extra vigilant'' after the revelations of plots and sub-plots pointing to a network of terrorist cells in major European cities. Details have emerged about a foiled terrorist attack in central Strasbourg near the seat of the European parliament.

Following the discovery of the Strasbourg plot, police in Germany, Italy, Spain and France have arrested many suspects. In Britain, the director of the Islamic Centre, has been held. He is being questioned by the British police about his involvement in the assassination of Ahmed Shah Masood, the charismatic military commander of the Northern Alliance.

Among those held by European authorities, many are of Tunisian, Egyptian and Algerian origin with strong links to the Al-Qaeda movement.

The FBI is looking into the activities of the notorious ``Hamburg three'' who played a key role in the September 11 incidents. German police have issued international arrest warrants for key suspects. One of them apparently set up a ``prayer group'' in Hamburg with Mohammed Atta.

The ``Caliph of Cologne'' and his associate who appears to be the chief ideologue among Islamic fundamentalists based in Cologne has been questioned by the German police. The Caliph of Cologne is currently serving a four-year jail sentence in Germany.

The biggest Islamist militant group operating in Germany is known as the Hilafet Devleti, which, according to German authorities may have around 1,100 members. Hilafet Devleti advocates the creation of an Islamic State in Turkey.

Last night, the German Government publicly admitted a failure in allowing key terrorists behind the September 11 events to slip through Hamburg undetected.

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Section  : International
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