Germany mum about plot
BERLIN — German officials were tightlipped today about details surrounding a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan's rugged mountain border area that Pakistani officials say killed five German militants.
And in southern France, police arrested 12 people in sweeps against suspected Islamic militant networks, including three men linked to recruiting fighters for Afghanistan.
U.S. officials believe a cell of Germans and Britons are at the heart of a terror plot against European cities — a plan they link to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — and are believed to be hiding in that region.
Germany's ARD public television cited unnamed sources today as saying that four of the Germans killed in the missile attack were of Turkish descent.
The strikes in Pakistan came on the heels of a U.S. warning for Americans traveling in Europe to be on alert for possible terror attacks, on suspicion that groups linked to al-Qaida were plotting to target tourist magnets in European capitals. Japan also issued a travel warning.
British police used sniffer dogs to patrol subways Monday, while soldiers and mounted police were dispatched to two major churches in Paris — Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. French paramilitary troops were also seen patrolling around the Eiffel Tower — which has been evacuated twice in recent weeks for unspecified threats.
In France, officials said the arrests were part of two apparently separate counterterrorism case files. Firearms were seized in at least one of the ongoing searches.
In one case, two men were arrested in the southeastern city of Marseille and another in the southwestern city of Bordeaux on alleged ties to a Frenchman arrested in Naples, Italy, last month linked to an Afghan recruiting ring.
The other nine suspects were arrested in southern France.
