The nature and source of the threat were not made public, though officials said it was the most serious the country had ever faced.

“We wanted to prevent panic by informing the public beforehand,” new Interior Minister Ivan Langer told journalists Sept. 24.

At press time, few details have been made public.

What is known is that late Friday night, Sept. 22, the government called an emergency meeting after “foreign intelligence agencies” tipped off officials that an attack on a Prague target was imminent.

Police were on the streets the next day at Prague’s main train station, Prague Castle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and throughout Old Town and concentrated in the Jewish Quarter.

Metro line C was taken out of service for several hours Saturday.

“The threat was somehow limited by date, but we should not think that the terrorists would set a date for an attack and that after that date they would not try it again,” said former Interior Minister Franti‰ek Bublan. “Enhanced security measures will be in force until canceled.”

Several newspapers reported that terrorists were threatening to attack Jewish targets around the city in connection with the Jewish New Year.

Authorities would not confirm this.

Meanwhile, the terrorist threat quickly became political.

Former Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek said the government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek knew of the threat some three weeks ago, an allegation Topolánek said was true, but, he said, events were set in motion by critical information that came to light last Friday.

Some in Paroubek’s Social Democratic Party said the Civic Democrat–led government alleged an imminent terrorist attack to draw attention away from an embarrassing scandal involving Langer.

Langer recently reported that scores of journalists were on the last government’s payroll, a revelation including claims that the government wiretapped reporters and sources.

Doubt surrounding this had been mounting, and the Supreme State Attorney announced Sept. 24 that there was little evidence to support Langer’s claim.