T&T, England a security risk
Trinidad Guardian
German police fear T&T match is among 21 which may be targeted by terroristsT&T’s match against England has been listed by German anti-terror police as one of 21 World Cup matches which are high-risk targets for Islamic terrorist groups, The Times newspaper reported yesterday.
The match is carded for June 15 in Nuremberg and will be skippered by Dwight Yorke, and his Soca Warriors’ final Group B fixture.
The security situation in Nuremberg may be eased if—as German diplomats are hinting—Iran President Ahmadinejad does not appear for the Iran-Mexico fixture on June 11. This was expected to be the most volatile encounter of the competition.
Neo-Nazis are planning to march in support of Ahmadinejad, who has denied the Holocaust. Iranian exiles are also preparing to protest against him, and England fans will be in town for the match with T&T.
The anti-terror cops feel, however, the main danger is not expected to come inside the stadiums where the games are being played, but in busy city centres where thousands of fans will gather to watch matches on giant television screens, the paper said.
If the nightmare scenario is a terrorist attack on such a crowded, “soft” target, increasingly nervous German authorities are also assessing the likely threat posed by hooligans and neo-Nazis.
Uwe-Karsten Heye, a former government spokesman, sparked an uproar on Thursday by warning black fans not to visit towns in Brandenburg, around Berlin, during the tournament. He was forced to retract his words by local politicians.
A leaked analysis by the German Federal Criminal Agency (BKA), the equivalent of Scotland Yard, indicates that terrorism has now become the main concern.
The BKA says that all teams from nations involved in the Iraq war should be considered vulnerable: the US, England, Spain, Poland and Australia.
Udo Nagel, the interior minister of Hamburg, has ordered marksmen to be deployed on rooftops and constant aerial observation around the US team hotel.
He said: “We have decided to impose a no-fly zone around the stadium in a radius of three nautical miles and, in some instances, we will be ready to expand this zone to 30 nautical miles.”
But the BKA analysis—published in Stern magazine—indicates that the public viewing areas are at greatest risk.
The stadiums are being monitored through identity checks on ticket-holders and by a massive process of positive vetting: 250,000 World Cup employees, from sausage-sellers to firefighters, are being checked.
Access to the 300 public viewing areas scattered around Germany will be much easier.
Every weekend the counter-terrorist units and the emergency services stage dress rehearsals. The results have been chaotic in Berlin; police will be hopelessly overstretched.
Matches under threat
June 10- England v Paraguay, Frankfurt
June 11- Mexico v Iran, Nuremberg
June 12- USA v C/Republic, Gelsenkirchen
June 15- England v T&T, Nuremberg
June 17- Portugal v Iran, Frankfurt
June 17- Italy v USA, Kaiserslautern
June 18- Brazil v Australia, Nuremberg
June 19- S Arabia v Ukraine, Hamburg
June 20- Sweden v England, Cologne
June 21- Iran v Angola, Leipzig
June 22- Ghana v USA, Nuremberg
June 23- S/Arabia v Spain, Kaiserslautern
Plus the opening game and the final