FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German police said on Tuesday they had taken into custody a person in connection with a possible attack planned against Cologne Cathedral.
Police on Saturday said they were heightening security at the cathedral following indications of a possible attack on New Year’s Eve and in the wake of government warnings in recent weeks about the rising threat of Islamist violence.
The individual is a 30-year-old Tajik man “about whom there is information relevant to state security”, Cologne police said in a statement without releasing further details.
The arrest was made on Sunday evening, and a court will allow the person to be held until Jan. 7.
In recent weeks Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has warned of the rising threat of Islamist violence in Germany and elsewhere in Europe as the Israel-Hamas war increases the risk of radicalization.
(Reporting by Tom Sims and Joern Poltz; Editing by Chris Reese)
