Webloggin » Germany Arrests 3 Suspected Terrorists

This is one of the best pieces of news I have heard all week. Three suspected terrorists, two young German men, ages 22 and 28, who converted to Islam and a 29 year old Turk, were caught with 1500 pounds of hydrogen peroxide for making explosive devices. Their goal was to strike Ramstein Air Base, a major U.S. military and NATO hub in Germany and the Frankfurt International Airport, also in Germany.

According to the AP, “a top legislator said the group could have struck “in a few days,” noting a “sensitive period” that includes the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.”

Officials also stated that the amount of hydrogen peroxide mixed with the right additives had enough punch to create an explosion equal to 1200 pounds of TNT.

According to the AP:

“This would have enabled them to make bombs with more explosive power than the ones used in the London and Madrid (transit) bombings,” Joerg Ziercke, the head of Germany’s Federal Crime Office, said at a joint press conference with Harms.

The three suspects — two Germans, aged 22 and 28, and a 29-year-old Turk — first came to the attention of authorities because they had been observing a U.S. military facility at the end of 2006, officials said. All three had undergone training at camps in Pakistan run by the Islamic Jihad Union, and had formed a German cell of the group.

The Islamic Jihad Union was described as a Sunni Muslim group based in Central Asia that was an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an extremist group with origins in that country.

“There was an imminent threat,” German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung told ARD broadcaster.

The three had no steady work and were drawing unemployment benefits while their main occupation was the plot, officials said. “This group distinguishes itself through its profound hatred of U.S. citizens,” Ziercke said.

Ziercke said members of Germany’s elite GSG-9 anti-terrorist unit arrested two of the suspects at a holiday home in central Germany on Tuesday. A third managed to escape through a bathroom window, but was apprehended about 300 yards later by federal police who had roped off the area.

The three men also trained for the attack in Pakistan.