3 al-Qaida men arrested over Norway terror plot
Source: Agencies |
July 9, 2010, Friday
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THREE suspected al-Qaida members were arrested yesterday for what Norwegian and United States officials said was a terrorist plot linked to similar plans to bomb New York's subway and blow up a shopping mall in England.
Officials believe the men were planning attacks with portable but powerful bombs like the ones at the heart of last year's failed suicide attack in the New York City subway, an attack US Attorney General Eric Holder has called one of the most serious plots since 9/11. On Wednesday, US prosecutors revealed the existence of a related plot in Manchester, England.
The plots underscore al-Qaida's interest in smaller-level attacks that don't require the intricate planning and coordination of the September 11 attacks in which airplanes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And they follow a trend in which the terrorist group has used operatives inside potential target countries, rather than trying to sneak people across increasingly secure borders.
The three men, whose names were not released, had been under surveillance for more than a year. Two were arrested in Norway and one in Germany. Officials would not say what country or site was the target of the latest terror threat, or even whether they believed the men had selected a target.
Those arrested in Norway were a 39-year-old Norwegian of Uygur origin who has lived in the country since 1999 and a 31-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan who had a permanent Norwegian residency permit, said Janne Kristiansen, head of Norway's Police Security Service. The man arrested in Germany was a 37-year-old Iraqi with a Norwegian residency permit, Kristiansen said in Oslo.
She did not say exactly where the arrests took place but said all three men "had connections to Oslo."
Norwegian and US officials believe the Norway plan was organized by Salah al-Somali, al-Qaida's former chief of external operations who is in charge of plotting attacks worldwide.
Al-Somali, who was killed in a CIA drone airstrike last year, has been identified in US court documents as one of the masterminds of the New York subway plot.
Two men have pleaded guilty in that case, admitting they planned to detonate explosives during rush hour. A third man awaits trial.
Officials believe the men were planning attacks with portable but powerful bombs like the ones at the heart of last year's failed suicide attack in the New York City subway, an attack US Attorney General Eric Holder has called one of the most serious plots since 9/11. On Wednesday, US prosecutors revealed the existence of a related plot in Manchester, England.
The plots underscore al-Qaida's interest in smaller-level attacks that don't require the intricate planning and coordination of the September 11 attacks in which airplanes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And they follow a trend in which the terrorist group has used operatives inside potential target countries, rather than trying to sneak people across increasingly secure borders.
The three men, whose names were not released, had been under surveillance for more than a year. Two were arrested in Norway and one in Germany. Officials would not say what country or site was the target of the latest terror threat, or even whether they believed the men had selected a target.
Those arrested in Norway were a 39-year-old Norwegian of Uygur origin who has lived in the country since 1999 and a 31-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan who had a permanent Norwegian residency permit, said Janne Kristiansen, head of Norway's Police Security Service. The man arrested in Germany was a 37-year-old Iraqi with a Norwegian residency permit, Kristiansen said in Oslo.
She did not say exactly where the arrests took place but said all three men "had connections to Oslo."
Norwegian and US officials believe the Norway plan was organized by Salah al-Somali, al-Qaida's former chief of external operations who is in charge of plotting attacks worldwide.
Al-Somali, who was killed in a CIA drone airstrike last year, has been identified in US court documents as one of the masterminds of the New York subway plot.
Two men have pleaded guilty in that case, admitting they planned to detonate explosives during rush hour. A third man awaits trial.
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