February 11, 2009 4:17 PM

Denmark Nabs Eight Terror Suspects

(CBS/AP)  Denmark's intelligence service arrested eight Islamic militants linked to leading al Qaeda figures in anti-terror raids in the Danish capital, the head of the agency said Tuesday

The men, between ages 19 and 29, were suspected of preparing a terror act involving explosives, said Jakob Scharf, the head of the PET intelligence service.

"With the arrests we have prevented a terror attack," Scharf told reporters at a news conference.

He did not say what the target of the planned attack was.

An advisor to Denmark's intelligence services told CBS News Tuesday the suspects had been "under observation for a long time."

The advisor, who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said he believes the eight men were planning an attack on an "iconic target." He said a previously-disrupted plot had targeted Copenhagen's main railway station.

Those arrested were six Danish citizens and two foreign nationals with Danish residence permits, Scharf said. The suspects had been under surveillance for a longer period and were arrested after police gathered enough evidence against them, he said.

"They also have been producing an unstable explosive in a densely populated area," Scharf said.

He said Danish investigators had worked with "several foreign cooperation partners" in the probe.

"Those arrested are militant Islamists with connections to leading al Qaeda persons," Scharf said, but did not name those people. "According to our assessment, there is a direct connection to al Qaeda."

The suspects - of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin - were arrested without incident in separate raids at 2 a.m. local time, Scharf told reporters, declining to say whether more people were sought in the investigation. Eleven locations were raided in and around Copenhagen, including the Ishoej suburb and the Noerrebro district of the capital.

The TV2 News channel reported a 19-year-old electrician was arrested in Ishoej, while a taxi driver in his early 20s was arrested in Noerrebro.

Television news video shot from a helicopter showed bomb squads and forensics agents at those locations.


© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 18 Comments
by toldyouso21 September 6, 2007 11:49 AM EDT
Europe has been under seige from Terrorists (home grown and foreign ) since the 1960s. Why is it, that in all of that time; they are only now discovering all of these terror cells? True terror cells? Or trumped up charges to curry favor from the Bush Adminstration and to prove they are on board in the "War on Terror" A most ambiguous term--that can be used to justify any number of arrests, spying, wiretapping and imprisoning of people and put it all under the nebulous but righteous banner of "terror suspect"

Maybe we will start getting suspiscious, when the suspects starts being members of other political groups and not just Muslims--then we will see just what a tangled web we are weaving.

True terror attacks? Maybe. Where was all the surveillance 3 or 4 or even 6 years ago? Why did it take an attack on America for Germany, Japan, England and others to really clean their own houses? Go figure.
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by usa118 September 5, 2007 1:15 PM EDT
Right on Magoo2u1...LOL
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by magoo2u1 September 5, 2007 1:40 AM EDT
" do not trust ANY islamic person I don''''t care if they are in india, england, denmark or anywhere else.
Do these people just want to rule the world? ? ?"
It might be wise not to trust any religious fanatic, period. Muslim ,christian any of them. they don''t just want to rule the world and oppress everyone, they want to bring about the end of the world. Muslims want to go see Alah, christians want to go see Jesus. they are going to screw it for those of us that just want to go fishing.

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by toolmangler-2009 September 5, 2007 12:04 AM EDT
. It is interesting to find terrorists in Denmark, too.
Posted by rhs648 at 05:38 PM : Sep 04, 2007

They haven''t gotten even with the Danes for the cartoons yet, but they will keep trying.
Reply to this comment
by speakinup September 4, 2007 11:23 PM EDT
rhs648 - so true. I have seen posts on CBS where folks believe it was the government that made the whole thing up, including the jets that slammed into the towers.

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by rhs648 September 4, 2007 10:30 PM EDT
Good work Danes.

Posted by radiob

radiob - It is ironic that when suspected terrorists are arrested in America, many people either don''t believe they are terrorists, don''t believe there is a threat to our security, or believe that the terrorists are being unfairly accused by our government.

How ironic!
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by radiob-2009 September 4, 2007 10:16 PM EDT
Good work Danes.
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by libsluvsuvs September 4, 2007 10:03 PM EDT
GOOD FOR THIS LIBERAL NATION..even them understand how to be PROACTIVE..

"The advisor, who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said he believes the eight men were planning an attack on an "iconic target." He said a previously-disrupted plot had targeted Copenhagen''s main railway station."

...in oppose to what most if not all American Liberals'' position to be REACTIVE.


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by rhs648 September 4, 2007 8:38 PM EDT
The left leaning Bush bashing America haters must still be asleep. They will probably chime in shortly. It is interesting to find terrorists in Denmark, too.
Reply to this comment
by lars008-2009 September 4, 2007 6:23 PM EDT
Posted by rushlimpdrug at 03:13 PM : Sep 04, 2007

FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM TO ENSLAVE NON MUSLIM WORLD

HAMAS MICKEY MOUSE SAYS
Islamic rule will benefit Christians and Jews
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - May 14, 2007
The force behind Hamas TV%u2019s controversial Mickey Mouse clone said today that his children%u2019s television program will continue to promote worldwide Islamic supremacy, for everyone''s benefit, including Christians and Jews.
In a long interview on Hamas TV, Hazim Al-Sha%u2019arawi, Deputy Director of Al-Aqsa TV and one of the creators of the Hamas children%u2019s TV show Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers, said that using the program to promote Islamic rule over other religions is actually promoting %u201Cjustice, goodness and world love.%u201D
Al-Aqsa TV and the Palestinian Authority have been under fire since PMW reported last week that Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers was using a character named Farfur, a knockoff of Disney%u2019s Mickey Mouse character, to convey messages about Islamic supremacy as well as hatred of Jews, Israel and the U.S. Despite public statements by PA Minister of Information Mustafa Barghouti that the show would be taken off the air until it could be reviewed and revised, a new episode of the program %u2013 featuring Al-Sha%u2019arawi as one of the hosts %u2013 ran Friday.
http://pmw.org.il/bulletins_may2007.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S995NCeaUg
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