U.S. to Issue Travel Alert for Europe

Travel Alert for Europe

The U.S. State Department is planning to release a travel alert for its citizens to exercise caution in traveling to Europe because of a perceived danger of a terrorist attack carried out by al Qaeda.

Top government officials met on Saturday to discuss the threat and are preparing to inform European authorities about the travel alert to be issued on Sunday, according to one of the officials.

A travel alert is a notch below a travel warning which would advise Americans against traveling to foreign destinations.

The implications for such a move could be detrimental for business and tourism between the U.S. and Europe.

Due to the increased security concerns, the official said that the State Department is not "urging Americans not to travel to Europe, just to show vigilance."

The impending travel alert comes after an investigation that began in August, when U.S. intelligence detected non-specific but serious threats of an attack from various sources like intercepted communications and a prisoner at Bagram prison in Afghanistan.

American and European officials have been coordinating to know more about the details of the plot that is said to be targeting France, Germany, the U.K. and other countries in Western Europe.

The plot is said to be part of a larger plan to target several places and installations.

A commando terror hit squad, similar to the one who struck Mumbai, India in 2008, is believed to be involved in the current plot.

Intelligence reports are trying to find out a link between the threats in Europe to a possible danger in the United States.

Posted by James Fried on Sunday October 03 2010, 5:28 PM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0