German security officials believe Osama bin Laden is alive and that al-Qaeda remains capable of carrying out terrorist attacks.
Hans Beth, director of the anti-terrorism and organised crime division at Germany's BND foreign intelligence service said communications between members of the international terror network have recently become more active again, and most al-Qaeda leaders remain at large despite the US-sponsored war in Afghanistan.
|
|
German security officials believe Osama bin Laden is still alive.
|
"We believe that bin Laden himself and several of his confidants are still around to give the impulses for attacks," he told a conference of European police officials in Bonn, Germany, on Tuesday.
Echoing recent US warnings, Beth insisted such attacks were possible anytime. However, he and other officials at the conference issued no specific warnings.
Europe has been a focus of investigations since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Several of the suicide hijackers were part of a terrorist cell based in Hamburg, Germany, and three other suspects are being sought on international warrants.
German officials said Tuesday that al-Qaeda is regrouping and recruiting new militants capable of carrying out fresh attacks.
The head of Germany's federal police said al-Qaeda has several thousand members worldwide, including a "noteworthy number" in Germany.
"We believe that they are living undetected among us and are prepared to participate in strategically planned terror attacks as dictated by their leaders," Manfred Klink, director of the Federal Criminal Office, told the Bonn conference.
He said his agency, the Federal Criminal Office, has 30 investigations pending against groups and individuals with suspected links to terrorism. He did not elaborate.
Last week, the German government said it was investigating a report that Taliban and al-Qaeda members were smuggled into Europe with the possible intention of planning new terrorist attacks.
German authorities are also investigating whether anyone in their country was connected to an attack on a Tunisian synagogue in April that may have been the work of al-Qaeda.
AP