Terrorists are planning an attack in Germany ahead of general elections Sep 27, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Saturday.
He said "friendly" intelligence services had informed their German counterparts of internet discussions about a possible attack designed to disrupt the parliamentary vote.
Schaeuble told a meeting of the youth wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats that a terrorist attack in Spain caused huge loss of life days before a general election there in 2004.
"We shouldn't let ourselves be driven crazy, but it would be irresponsible not to take this information seriously," said the minister, who is responsible for security in Germany.
Some 191 persons were killed and 1,800 injured when Islamist terrorists blew up commuter trains in Madrid March 11, 2004, three days before Spain went to the polls.