Three suspected Al-Qaeda members arrested in Norway and Germany

Three suspected Al-Qaeda members were arrested on Thursday morning in what Norwegian and US officials have described as a plot linked to plans in the US and Britain. Two were apprehended in Oslo, the other in Germany by German police, according to the Verdens Gang newspaper.

US Attorney General Eric Holder said it was one of the most serious terrorist plots since 9/11, but police say it is now all over.

“We are not in any serious danger of terrorism,” said Janne Kristiansen, head of the Norwegian Police Security Services.

The unnamed suspects were attempting to make homemade peroxide bombs and were arrested on suspicion of preparing terror activities, under penal code section 147a.

It was not clear whether they had already selected a target for the attack.

The three suspects:

• A 39-year-old man with Norwegian citizenship and a member of China's Muslim Uighur minority;
• A 37-year-old Iraqi man, who was granted residency in Norway after arriving in the country in 1999;
• A 31-year-old man with Uzbek citizenship who arrived in Norway in 2002 as an asylum seeker;