No explosives found after Gaggenau bomb threat

The city hall in the southwestern German town had been evacuated on Friday after a bomb threat was phoned in, but after a search of the building did not turn up any explosives, employees were allowed to re-enter the building.

"After a thorough assessment, nothing suspicious could be found," police said on Friday.

The person who called in the threat to the town hall said it was linked to the cancellation of a controversial campaign speech by Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, said Dieter Spannagel, Gaggenau's head of citizen services.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Germany would face "consequences" over the decision to cancel the justice minister's speech. Germany's Foreign Ministry said it did not play a role in canceling the event, adding that the decision was reached by local authorities.

The town of around 30,000 inhabitants was one of two German venues to cancel speeches by Turkish politicians campaigning for changes to the Turkish constitution that would give more power to country's president, currently Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

sms/cmb (dpa, AFP)