German police close streets near hospital

Wednesday, December 31, 2003

HAMBURG, Germany -- Police closed streets around a military hospital Tuesday after U.S. authorities warned that Islamic militants planned suicide car bomb attacks against the facility. The intelligence warning from the United States named two alleged suicide attackers from Ansar al-Islam, a group linked to al-Qaida that planned to carry out the attack on the Bundeswehr hospital, said state Interior Minister Dirk Nockemann. The alleged suicide attackers traveled to Hamburg in early December, said Heino Vahldiek, head of the Hamburg branch of the federal security agency. Police closed streets about 2:30 p.m. around the hospital in the suburb of Wandsbek.

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