Al-Qaida has posted a video on the Internet, warning that it is
planning new attacks in Spain, Germany and Austria because of their
military presence in Afghanistan, local press reported on
Monday.
In the video, a hooded man described the Spanish government as
deceiving its citizens by withdrawing troops from Iraq, but in the
meantime sending 600 others to Afghanistan.
He also questioned Germany's position as to what it hopes to
gain by sending 2,700 soldiers to Afghanistan, and urged the
country not to follow Spain's suit.
There have been several threats by international terrorists in
recent years, and this looks like just one more threat that several
nations have received," said Spain's Defense Minister Jose Antonio
Alonso.
The international community must never give in to terrorist
demands,but we must always be on guard because terrorism is still
very dangerous, he added.
Spain, the ninth largest contributor to the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), currently has 700
military personnel in Afghanistan.
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(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2007)
