Klaus Scharioth is U.S. German Ambassador: al-Qaida Widespread Threats: Terrorists Dispatched

Klaus Scharioth - German Ambassador to U.S.

WTOP.com, federal news radio says that the U.S. and Germany agree that there is danger of widespread threats of al-Qaida attacks emulating the bombings in Bali in 2002 and Madrid 2004. "Groups of terrorists may have been dispatched from training bases in Pakistan to launch crippling attacks."

A minimum of 12 al-Qaida-trained terrorists are believed to have left training camps and dispatched to their home countries, of which Germany, France, Italy, the U.K. and Egypt are included. Turkish Airlines is believed to be targeted for attacks - especially flights from Istanbul to the U.S. and the U.K. to Israel. On flights over the July 4th holiday, passengers were "segregated" and screened "multiple times." In the U.S., Turkish Airlines flies to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Tampa and Chicago. Anticipated attacks on Germany are believed to try to force Germany out of Afghanistan. Following the usual terrorism tactics, intelligence believes the plan is to "plant multiple explosive devices in several locations and detonate them either in a simultaneous or sequential fashion. "

The idea is to draw in first responders to the scene after the first explosion, and then the subsequent explosions are set off in the same location to inflict maximum casualties.

German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth speaks of his country's involvement in Afghanistan:

We are the third biggest troop contributor in Afghanistan, and we are also the fourth biggest contributor of civilian efforts, training and reconstruction and also trying to help the country to redo the education system, give more girls a chance to get an education and all those things - that's one thing," Scharioth says.

Read the entire article at WTOP.com.