U.S. warns its citizens of potential attacks in Europe

Posted on October 3, 2010 by julie

The U.S. State Department Sunday issued a travel warning for Europe, to “potential terrorist” and urged its citizens to remain vigilant. “The State Department is warning U.S. citizens of potential terrorist attacks in Europe,” said an official announcement, expected from government officials had announced on Saturday on condition of anonymity, about the imminence of this warning. “Current information suggests that al-Qaida and allied organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks,” the text of the alert. “U.S. citizens should take all precautions to be aware of where they are and to take appropriate security measures to protect themselves when traveling,” the statement said. Western intelligence services caught up projects related to al-Qaida attack in the big cities of the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Under these projects, there is the threat of attacks similar to Mumbai, which left 166 dead in 2008, according to information released last week by Anglo-Saxon media. “Some European governments have taken steps to prevent an attack, while others have publicly evoked the highest level of a threat,” said the State Department. The European Commission said Sunday it was watching the situation after Washington’s warning to U.S. citizens traveling to Europe against the risks of attacks. “We were informed of the alert by the U.S. authorities. We are in contact with our American partners and we monitor the situation,” the AFP said Michele Cercone, spokesman for European Commissioner of the Interior, Cecilia Malstroen, without elaborating. London announced on Sunday that his side strengthened its warning to Britons traveling to France or Germany after warning of a “strong terrorist threat in those countries and in Britain itself. “As we do not tire of repeating, we face a real and serious terrorist threat. Our alert level remains ‘grave’, which means it is likely to suffer an attack,” he said on his part the British Minister of Interior , Theresa May. In France, the spokesman of Foreign Ministry, Bernard Valero, said: “We have taken note of the monitoring recommendations made by U.S. citizens traveling to Europe, which go hand in hand with general recommendations that we ourselves do the French population”. “The terrorist threat remains high in France, the alert level remains the same, level red,” he added. French Interior Minister, Brice Hortefeux, said “we work closely with all departments and with the countries involved. We are naturally aware of and take into account what we can tell our American ally”. On the other hand, a leader of the Czech Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday that Prague had strengthened security precautions, after Washington alerted of possible terrorist attacks. Projects of attacks in Europe were made by the number three of the Al Qaida, Sheik Younis al-Mauretania, with the support of Osama Bin Laden, published in the German weekly Spiegel. “Terrorists could use different ways and weapons and attack both government officials and private interests,” the U.S. State Department. “U.S. citizens continue to be targets of potential terrorist attacks on public transport and other tourism infrastructure,” the statement said.