German authorities today stepped up security measures at the public viewing places across the country for the first all-German football Champions League final at London's Wembley Stadium following a warning from Russia of a possible terrorist attack.
The authorities are taking the warning quite seriously because it came from the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, which had alerted the US authorities about the two Chechen brothers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings last month, media reports said quoting security service officials.
Public viewing places in major German cities are regarded as a top target for a possible terrorist attack as thousands of football fans are expected to flock there this evening to watch on large screens live telecast of the clash between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund for European club football's most prestigious title.
At the largest public viewing location in Berlin, the organisers are expecting a crowd of more than 100,000 football fans.
Police in Berlin said they have intensified the inspection of bags and other belongings of the football fans visiting there.
Several public viewing sites are planned in Munich and in Dortmund.
Media reports said German authorities had received a warning from the FSB a few days ago about a group of Chechen Islamists, who are on their way to Germany or possibly may have already entered the country.
The Federal Criminal Office (BKA) had informed the state interior ministers about the warnings of a possible terrorist attack, according to the reports.
The Russian authorities also alerted the German side about a Chechen national living in this country.
He has been identified by police and they are now searching for him, the reports said.
"There are concrete warnings about persons, but not about the location or time of a possible attack," according to Wolfgang Bosbach, chairman of the interior affairs committee of the Bundestag, the lower house of German parliament.
"However, these warnings must be taken seriously because we know that they are about persons, who posed a danger for this nation's security," he said in a TV interview.
Bosbach confirmed that security measures are being tightened across the country and advised the security services not to divulge details of the steps being taken to prevent a possible attack.
News magazine Der Spiegel's online edition also reported quoting BKA sources that radical Islamist groups planned a terrorist attack in this country and cited the football public viewing places as a possible target.
Erman Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich tried to play down the significance of reported the terror warning from Russia and said there are no concrete indications of a possible terrorist attack at public viewing places or other targets in this country.
Germany has been a focus of international terrorism for some time, but there is no new terrorist threat for the nation's security, he said in a statement.
"At present, there is no concrete evidence of a plan for a possible terrorist attack or a target in Germany," the statement said.
