Germany says knew of pointers to Al Qaeda attacks

Information in media reports that Al Qaeda was planning attacks in the United States and Europe was known to authorities, but there are no firm signs an attack was imminent in Germany, the German government said.

"At present there are no concrete pointers to imminent attacks in Germany stemming from this," the German interior ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. "The current pointers do not warrant a change in the assessment of the danger level." The information was exchanged with other countries with the "appropriate degree of sensitivity and intensity", the statement added. (Reuters)