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Terror suspects held in plane raid

COLOGNE: Armed police officers boarded a jet just minutes before take-off on Friday and arrested a pair of ethnic Somalis, saying they found a suicide note from the men that claimed the pair wanted to fight in a holy war and die in a terrorist attack.

A 23-year-old Somali and a 24-year-old German born in Somalia were removed from KLM Flight 1084 without incident after the surprise early morning raid at Cologne-Bonn Airport, said the police. An airport spokesman said the two were not armed.

The duo was booked to fly to Uganda from Amsterdam, said KLM. The German media, citing unidentified security sources, widely reported the men’s final destination was Pakistan, likely a terrorist training camp in the border region with Afghanistan. The newspaper, Bild, reported the men had been under observation for months.

Germany has been threatened with terrorist attacks by radical Islamic groups — largely because of its contingent of troops serving with NATO in Afghanistan — but has so far none have succeeded.

Germany is still in the “crosshairs of terrorism,” said Interior Ministry spokeswoman Daniela-Alexandra Pietsch, but there are no indications that any specific attacks are planned. Despite Friday’s arrests, the threat level in Germany had not changed. German media identified the 24-year-old as Omar D. and the other man as Abdirazak B., but the authorities would not confirm either of the names.

“It was completely unspectacular,” said airport spokesman Walter Roemer, adding: “The men were arrested in their seats.” KLM said the passengers were very quiet and the flight took off just over an hour later. — AP

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