HOLIDAY LEAVE has been cancelled for German police as they remain on high security alert through the Christmas market season until the end of the year.
German authorities have declined to discuss fears that "concrete" warnings they received earlier this month include bomb attacks on the country's traditional open-air markets.
Federal police chief Matthias Seeger told the Bildtabloid yesterday that there was no need for panic. "But on a scale of one - no danger - to 10 - acute alert of attack - we are at the moment around nine," he said.
Rainer Wendt, head of Germany's police union, said he was unaware of detailed plans to target markets, but said "we must expect attacks and will protect the population with a visible presence".
"The security authorities are preparing to maintain the heightened state of alert until at least year's end," said Mr Wendt.
Claims of security dangers unsettled Christmas market operators as they set up stands yesterday. "We've not had any terrorism warnings to date," said Heide Mombächer, spokeswoman for the the main Hamburg market before the town hall. "If that changes we will discuss the necessary measures with police."
Since the heightened terror alert was announced this week, armed police have been posted around the country at train stations, airports and tourist attractions.
Talk of the potential threat has seen a spike in reported bomb alerts - so far all false alarms.
Police cleared Hanover main station yesterday to blow up an unattended carrier bag; police in neighbouring Saxony-Anhalt destroyed an abandoned package in an outdoor snack bar. In Düsseldorf a train was stopped when an ownerless bag turned up; Berlin police were called out yesterday to investigate a "suspicious" package which turned out to contain a printer cartridge.
Separately, the German authorities confirmed yesterday that a suspected bomb on a flight to Munich on Wednesday was a dummy.
The bag - containing a clock, batteries and wires - was discovered on a luggage wagon by airport baggage handlers in the Namibian city of Windhoek.
"These real-test suitcases are built to test security measures," said Thomas de Maizière, Germany's federal interior minister.