The threat of a large-scale al-Qaeda attack on European soil is 'real,' especially now that actions attributed to the United States in Afghanistan and Pakistan have put the terrorist network under pressure, said Europe's top anti-terror official on Wednesday in this interview. EU anti-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove's remarks came in the wake of several terrorism alerts raised by the United States and other countries about the growing threat of an attack in Europe. 'It's part of a general threat that has not diminished recently. It also confirms what I have been saying for a long time, that we should not presume that because there are no attacks, there is no threat,' de Kerchove said in an interview made available via the EU's Europe by Satellite video service. De Kerchove said that according to the German intelligence services, approximately 200 radicalists have left the country for training in terrorist camps, and some 70 of them have returned. Radicalisation experts believe many of the German Jihadis have turned to radical Islam at the Al-Quds mosque in Hamburg, which now is closed. The mosque was shut down by German security officials in August 2010 amid suspicion that the mosque was again being used as a meeting place for Islamic extremists. Also read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Quds_Mosque_Hamburg Distributed by Tubemogul.