Munich police restricted car traffic at the Oktoberfest and detained two Islamic extremists after al-Qaeda threats against Germany suggested the world’s largest beer festival may be a terror target.
The detainees have links to Abu Talha, an al-Qaeda spokesman who urged Germans in a video before yesterday’s election to vote for pulling German troops out of Afghanistan, Munich police spokesman Peter Reichl said by phone today.
Al-Qaeda released videos threatening Germany before the election, prompting tighter security at airports and train stations and a flight ban over the Oktoberfest, which draws an average 375,000 people a day. The 16-day festival of beer, sausages and lederhosen ends Oct. 4.
“We’ve looked at the six videos,” Reichl said. “We took the measures after one of them showed an image of the Oktoberfest and Harrach talked about Muslims needing to stay home for two weeks after the election.”
