Germany Moves to Deal With Iraqi Terrorism

Security has been tightened in Germany to deal with potential pro-Iraqi terrorists who probably already have slipped into the country, officials said Saturday.

Officials also urged tighter vigilance at borders, airports and other places where extremists could either infiltrate or stage attacks.

U.S. Ambassador Vernon A. Walters acknowledged Saturday that German and American authorities have increased security in Germany, and have even discussed measures concerning the ambassador’s own safety.

“If we weren’t concerned with security we’d be idiots,” Walters said, “but I just can’t get into a detailed discussion of that because I don’t want to help the terrorists.”

Also Saturday, Germany said it was warning its citizens living in Israel to leave the country before the Jan. 15 U.N. deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. Iraq has threatened to attack Israel if war breaks out.

Germany, a target of past Middle East terrorism and home to hundreds of thousands of Americans, has become increasingly worried about the potential for terrorism.

“Presumably, Iraqi terrorists have already been smuggled into the Federal Republic,” Willfried Penner, chairman of the German Parliament’s intelligence committee, was quoted as saying Saturday in the Cologne Express newspaper.