BERLIN, Dec 22: Germany is investigating a tip that a 50-member strong cell may be planning attacks on embassies, banks and multi-national corporations in Germany and across Europe, an interior ministry spokesman said on Sunday.

The official said state prosecutors in Frankfurt are investigating the tip about possible attacks, which Stern magazine said in its next edition came in warnings sent to British, French and American consulates in Duesseldorf and Frankfurt.

“The state prosecutors office is investigating this,” the interior ministry spokesman said. Because of the investigation he said he could not provide any details. The state prosecutors office in Frankfurt could not be reached for comment.

Stern magazine said the three consulates in Germany had received anonymous letters warning about attacks, including the use of biological weapons, that could be coming soon from a 50-member group operating in Europe.

The magazine said the attacks were aimed at embassies, banks or large buildings, including American, British and French companies.

The tip included names, addresses and telephone numbers of group members. They are for the most part Pakistani, Afghan and Indian nationals, and many reside as legal aliens in Germany. A few others on the list have long been wanted by police.

Stern said that nine state crime offices in Germany, the BND intelligence agency and the office for the protection of the constitution had found that about a dozen of the people listed face charges of forging documents, drug trafficking, and being accomplices to the illegal entry of foreigners.

Five people on the list have jobs at Frankfurt international airport and work in security areas with access to sensitive parts of the airport, Stern said.

Interior Minister Otto Schily said recently the threat of terrorism in Germany was as great now as it had ever been since last year’s September 11 attacks on the United States.

Germany has been on high alert in recent months following an April suicide attack at a synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia that killed 14 Germans, five Tunisians and a Frenchman along with the assailant.

The head of Germany’s BND intelligence service, August Hanning, has warned that the agency believed was preparing new attacks, with Germany and France added to the target list because of support for the US-led war on terror.—Reuters