Al-Qaeda Terrorist Plot Uncovered ....Target - Europe

 Western intelligence agencies have uncovered an Al-Qaeda plot to launch attacks in Britain, France and Germany by extremists based in Pakistan, security sources and media reports said Wednesday."The threat is very real," a European-based security official told AFP, after British and US media reported that militants were planning simultaneous strikes in London and major cities in France and Germany. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that France and Britain had been targeted in the threat, which first came to light last month.

Orders have been given at the highest level of Al-Qaeda to punish Europe, and France in particular, the source said. US intelligence services identified the threat from various sources, including the questioning of suspects from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.  This tallies with reports by US broadcasters ABC and CNN that the source of the intelligence was a German suspect detained in Afghanistan.
However, the official could not confirm a BBC report that commando-style teams of militants planned to seize Western hostages and murder them, in a manner similar to the attacks in Mumbai two years ago.
In those attacks, 10 gunmen killed 166 people and injured more than 300 in three luxury hotels, a railway station and restaurants.
The European-based source said any threat would more likely take the form of a bomb. The BBC described the threat as "one of the most serious Al-Qaeda attack plans in recent years" and said it was inspired by the terror group's fugitive leadership in Pakistan's tribal areas.


Britain's interior ministry refused to comment on the reports of a plot, but a spokeswoman said, there was "no change at all" to the national threat level, which since January has been at "severe", the second highest of five levels, meaning a terror attack is highly likely.
The United States was also a possible target in the reported plot and President Obama had been briefed about the threat. Sky News said a recent surge in US drone attacks in Pakistan's border areas was aimed at eliminating the plot's leaders, and had killed some of them. At least 21 US drone strikes have targeted Al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the tribal zone in September -- the highest number in any single month -- and the latest on Tuesday killed Al-Qaeda's operational chief in the region.
 The investigation into the plot is reportedly ongoing, but the BBC said no imminent arrests were expected in Britain. France is on a heightened state of alert amid warnings of an imminent attack and authorities in Paris evacuated the Eiffel Tower for several hours on Tuesday evening after a phone call to the landmark's operator warning of a bomb.
French officials said Wednesday they had no new information on a specific threat of a Mumbai-style attack, but last week government sources said US intelligence had warned of jihadi cells moving back to Europe from Pakistan.
It seems terrorism is never defeated. It goes underground for a while but comes out to threaten another day. Can anyone remember a time in our history when there was worldwide peace for a short period? What about right after WW II, when the world was sick of bloodshed? Perhaps there was still a little skirmish going on somewhere.  I would find it hard to comprehend  the planet at complete peace. It would be suspect; there would be plotting to 'take over the world' going on somewhere. Our view is still too narrow, too tribal. We should, by  now, be thinking in global terms, in planetary terms, as one species. We should be working together to save this planet and seeking ways to survive as a species. Please wake up, brothers and sisters.