Der Spiegel: Fears of a Mumbai Redux - The Story Behind Germany's Terror Threat

[Turborama]

11/22/2010

Fears of a Mumbai Redux: The Story Behind Germany's Terror Threat

By Matthias Bartsch, Yassin Musharbash and Holger Stark

Germany is currently in a state of high alert. Security officials are warning that they have concrete information pointing to a possible terror attack on the federal parliament building in Berlin, a massively popular tourist attraction. The days of Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière's reserved stances in dealing with such warnings appear to be over.

The call came from abroad, and the man speaking hurriedly on the other end of the line sounded as if he feared for his life. He wanted out, he told the officers of the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) -- out of the terrorist scene. He wanted to come back to Germany, back to his family. Then he asked if German officials could help him.

Right now, they're trying to do just that. The BKA is pursuing the case under the codename "Nova." The apparently remorseful man could be an important possible whistleblower from a dangerous region of the globe. In fact, he is also the most recent reason why German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière put the entire country in a state of fright on Wednesday.

During a hastily called press conference that day, de Maizière stated that Germany faced the threat of terrorist attacks that might be launched against the country at some point in November. As he put it, Germany is "presently dealing with a new situation."

Full 3 part article: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,730377,00.html