Hamburg - German prosecutors have opened an inquiry into
claims that terrorists plotted to set off a truckload of explosives
in Germany, the news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.
The plot had involved driving a truck containing a ton of
explosives to Germany via Russia and Finland and crossing the Baltic
Sea by ferry to the port city of Rostock, said Spiegel.
German federal police had counselled federal agencies to take due
precautions.
The magazine released its report two days in advance of Monday
publication. Asked by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa for confirmation,
prosecutors and police declined comment.
In Beirut on Friday, a Lebanese security source told media an
alleged al-Qaeda figure suspected of involvement in attempted train
bombings in Germany had been arrested in Lebanon after threatening to
carry out attacks in Germany over the next three months.
Mohammed Ndoub, a Syrian national, was arrested after issuing
threats to the German embassy in Beirut via a public telephone.
Ndoub had told the embassy he would carry out several attacks
against civilian targets inside Germany in the coming three months.
The attacks would be 'to avenge' the recent conviction in Beirut
of one accused and the ongoing trial in Germany of the other for the
failed July 31, 2006, bombings of two German passenger trains.
Another weekly, Focus, said Ndoub had claimed a team of three men
were already in Germany. The 'Jihad Islami' team comprised a German
of Turkish ethnicity, a Saudi national and an Australian. Focus said
Lebanese police assessed the claims as broadly plausible.
Spiegel said the threat suggested the German armed forces,
security agencies or justice ministry might be the targets.
Although such warnings in the past had always proved wrong, the
tip-off did match recent speeches by al-Qaeda deputy leader Aiman
al-Sawahiri.
One would-be bomber Jihad Hamad was sentenced in Lebanon last
month to 12 years imprisonment, while a second, Youssef al-Haj Dib,
is currently on trial in Germany.
The two had placed two explosives-laden suitcases on the trains,
which failed to detonate owing to technical faults.
German investigators said the planned explosions near Hamm and
Koblenz would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and
possibly been on a larger scale than the July 2005 London transport
attacks.
Spiegel said the threat was also linked to the German arrest last
September of a trio of sympathizers with al-Qaeda for plotting bomb
attacks.
© 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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