Germany on terror alert after pre-vote warnings

German security forces fanned out yesterday at busy transport centres ahead of the country's general election, after warnings of attacks in protest at the country's military deployment in Afghanistan.
Police with machine guns patrolled at airports and main train stations across the country, while armoured vehicles were visible on runways including at Frankfurt airport, one of Europe's busiest.
"There is no reason to panic," an interior ministry spokesman said. "There is an abstract threat as seen in the warning videos that we have received. We are taking it seriously and the security services are doing what they can."
The US State Department on Wednesday warned Americans to be on the alert while travelling to Germany, saying that al-Qaeda has recently released a video specifically warning the country of attacks.
Footage showed a man identified as Abu Talha "the German", warning in German that if Angela Merkel is re-elected as chancellor, "bitter times await the Germans".
Abu Talha, who German security forces believe to be a 32-year-old from Bonn named Bekkay Harrach, has made three other videos, but the latest one is "particularly disconcerting" since it mentions for the first time a timeframe for an attack, terrorism expert Guido Steinberg told AFP.