Al-Qaida and associated groups were believed to be planning an attack on the German parliament's seat - the Reichstag in Berlin, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.
According to the report, the groups planned to take hostages and "perpetrate a bloodbath" using firearms. The cell planning the attack was supposedly comprised of one German, a Turk, a man from North Africa and an unknown suspect.
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The attack was planned to take place in February or March. Authorities
said that intelligence about the plot was behind Wednesday's
announcement by the German Interior Ministry of an imminent attack, Spiegel reported.
The warning came from a jihaidst who wanted to leave his terrorist
group. The man contacted a German law enforcement agency several times
last week, according to the report.
Another warning came to the Germans via the FBI in the United States.
The FBI allegedly told the Germans that a Shi'ite group from India has
entered into a pact with al-Qaida and has sent two men to carry out an
attack in Germany, Spiegel reported.
The domestic intelligence services in both Germany and the US (the BKA
and FBI, respectively) were said to be very concerned by the reports,
but the foreign intelligence services of the two powers (the BND and
CIA) were said to be skeptical, according to the report.
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