Netherlands Releases 11 of 12 Somali Terror Suspects
The Dutch public prosecutor released a Somali man suspected of planning a terrorist attack, leaving one of 12 arrested on Christmas Eve in custody.
Two of the 12 who were detained in Rotterdam remain suspects, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement on its website today.
Police arrested the men after the Dutch secret service said it had concrete evidence of terrorist plans. Officials searched four apartments, two hotel rooms and a store for making inexpensive international phone calls. They didn’t find weapons or explosives.
The arrests took place one year after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a then 23-year-old Nigerian, tried to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport as it prepared to land in Detroit on Christmas Day.
The prosecutor said nothing is known about a possible target. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf today reported some of the men were planning to shoot down an Apache helicopter at a Dutch military base, citing intelligence officers.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jurjen van de Pol in Amsterdam at jvandepol@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Fraher at jfraher@bloomberg.net
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