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Islamic attacks “remain a possibility”

Switzerland is not a prime target of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, but an attack by Islamic militants could not be excluded, according to the intelligence service.

Presenting his unit’s annual report, Markus Seiler said it was impossible to predict how the security situation would develop in the short term.

Monday’s presentation coincides with news that the elusive head of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, had been killed in a raid by a United States commando unit in Pakistan on Sunday.

Seiler said Washington had warned of the risk of attacks against US citizens and institutions.

The annual report, which covers events up to February 2011, noted that the leadership of the al-Qaeda network had been weakened as many senior figures have been killed over the past 12 months.

There were no indications about links between al-Qaeda and people living in Switzerland, according to Seiler.

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