Terrorist Threat Remains Says Germany's Top Spy

The director of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) said on Monday that intelligence gathered by western intelligence agencies indicates that Osama bin Laden is probably still alive.

August Hanning told a security conference in Berlin that evidence suggests that the organization's leadership continues to be capable of directing terrorist attacks against Germany and the rest of the world.

The BND chief has made previous claims stating that Bin Laden is not out of the picture yet and that Al Qaeda still proves to be a danger despite the destruction of its training camps during the US-led campaign in Afghanistan.

BND believes Al Qaeda leadership to be at large

In a report last weekend in the German Sunday newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, Hanning said that the country’s intelligence service suspects Bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are hiding in the Afghan-Pakistani border area southeast of the capital Kabul.

In a speech to a security gathering in Berlin on Monday, Hanning reiterated his claims, saying: "(Bin Laden) has numerous helpers. He operates in regions where access is very difficult. He also changes his location. That makes the situation very hard." The BND believes that there are presently over 5,000 Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that the leadership-in-hiding is looking at "forming new structures."

Hanning said that recent information received from collaborating intelligence organizations shows a recognizable increase in worldwide communications between members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network in recent weeks and months.

"We see no all clear signal at this time. Rather, we are seeing an increase in (terrorist) activities." The BND chief added that there was concern that this was a prelude to further terrorist attacks.

Germany on increased alert after recorded warning

German authorities have increased anti-terror precautions recently after a recorded message alleged to have been made by al-Zawahiri mentioned Germany in a warning to western powers.

In the recorded message, the voice says, "The Mujahid youth has already sent messages to Germany and France. However, if these doses are not enough, we are prepared, with the help of Allah, to inject further doses." Attacks linked to Al Qaeda killed 11 German tourists visiting a synagogue in Tunisia in April and the same number of French engineers as they traveled by bus in Pakistan in May.

"When you look at past attacks, we must conclude that the fear of a new attack is very real... an attack of greater dimensions," said the BND chief on German public television channel ZDF after meeting with international security officials in Berlin. However, Hanning added that Bin Laden probably "has the activities planned but they are not yet functional."

Active European terror cells still an Al Qaeda objective

Hanning believes that the terrorist organization is still actively recruiting in Europe and that cells, like the one discovered in Hamburg accused of the September 11th attacks, are still a potential threat.

"We see that recruiting is going on," he said. "We have European centers that are still being used for recruiting today." Hanning added that the risk that Al Qaeda still had the power to carry out attacks in the Arab world and Europe "remains relatively high."