US air base in Germany gets bomb threat

SPANGDAHLEM, Germany, Sep 11 (Reuters) A US air base in western Germany received a bomb threat prompting a large operation by local police and American forces to secure the site, the US military and German police said.

Local police said they had doubts about the legitimacy of the threat received last evening but were taking it seriously.

''There are significant doubts as to the seriousness of the threat,'' said local police spokesman Gerhard Mueller. ''Despite this, however, it is being taken very seriously given the current situation and because of the date. Today is September 11.'' Police in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate said the base had received a call from a man who spoke in German with a Russian or Turkish accent and threatened to attack the air base in Spangdahlem with bombs. He said he had at least four accomplices.

The threat came a day before the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States and roughly a week after German authorities say they prevented major bomb attacks on US sites in Germany by a domestic cell of Islamist militants.

''Last night we received a threat to the base, specifically a telephone call from an off-base person who was threatening to attack the base today,'' US Colonel Darryl Roberson told reporters.

''We take this threat very seriously and we have taken measures to defend against that,'' he said, adding that they were working closely with the police and other German authorities.

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