GERMANY: German police have arrested a man and are hunting another in connection with two failed suitcase bomb attacks last month.
Faulty detonating devices are all that prevented fireballs engulfing two trains near Cologne on July 31st in what would have been Germany's first serious terrorist attack. "The threat has never been so close," interior minister Wolfgang Schäuble said on German television.
Police swooped on a fast-food booth near Kiel train station early on Saturday, arresting a 22-year-old Lebanese student identified as Youseff Mohamad E.
He had a suitcase of clothes with him and was apparently about to leave the city just hours after fuzzy security camera pictures of the two chief bomb suspects were shown on news bulletins and in newspapers.
Fingerprint and DNA tests link him to one of the suitcases found on July 31st, and he will appear before a judge today.
The man, a student in Germany since 2004, lived in a student apartment block in Kiel.
Neighbours spoke of a "friendly, polite, inconspicuous" young man. Others told of his strict religious observance and said he prayed five times a day.
Investigators said the logistical complexity of the plot suggested the two bombers were part of a wider terrorist group, either linked to Lebanon or Pakistan. Police have posted a €50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the second bomber.
"The second suspect is still at large. The danger is still out there," said Jörg Zierke, head of Germany's federal criminal authority. He said the bombs were identical: black wheelie suitcases containing a gas canister, an alarm clock, wires and batteries as well as plastic bottles containing liquid explosive.
"The cases were supposed to explode 10 minutes before the trains arrived at the stations," said Mr Zierke.
Train stations and airports were on high alert at the weekend and police cleared Hamburg main station after a hoax bomb threat on Saturday.
"Unfortunately we have to assume that there is a danger of a repeat of this attack attempt," said Mr Schäuble.
The attempted bombings have reopened a political debate in Germany over whether to create a central terrorist database and loosen restrictive laws about the use of surveillance cameras. Rail company Deutsche Bahn said it would increase its surveillance of stations but the law prohibited it filming inside its trains.