Deutsche Welle: Police Nab Second German Train Bomb Suspect in Lebanon

[Eugene]

Germany | 24.08.2006
Police Nab Second German Train Bomb Suspect in Lebanon

The second fugitive suspect in failed bomb attacks on two German trains
last month has been arrested in Lebanon after he turned himself in,
according to Germany's federal prosecutor general's office.

The 19-year-old Lebanese student turned himself in to the police in Tripoli,
Germany's federal prosecutor's office confirmed on Thursday.

Identified by police as Jihad Hamad earlier this week, the suspect is believed
to have planted bombs on two German trains last month. He stands accused
of membership in a terrorist organization as well as large-scale attempted murder
and an attempt to detonate explosives.

Earlier, German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that security officials had
found explosives, wires, and detonators during the search of a Cologne apartment
where Hamad had lived.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2145374,00.html

Earlier LBN thread: German Investigators Pursue Suspect in Foiled Train Attack

[Stella_Artois]

1. Lebanon holds train bomb suspect

A second suspect in last month's alleged plot to blow up German trains has been arrested in Lebanon, prosecutors in Germany say.

They say Jihad Hamad, 19, turned himself in to police in the northern city of Tripoli.

The other suspect, a 21-year-old Lebanese student, was arrested in the German city of Kiel last week.

Two bombs were found on trains in Dortmund and Koblenz in late July. The devices failed to go off, police said.

The bombers had intended to kill large numbers of people, police said.

Security has since been stepped up at German airports and the rail authorities have announced they are installing more closed circuit TV cameras at stations.

'Video lead'

German prosecutors say they are arranging to have the second suspect extradited to Germany.

The first suspect was arrested in Kiel on 19 August. He has been living in Germany since 2004, officials said.

The arrests follow the release of closed-circuit TV footage of two male suspects by police last week.

In the video, the two suspects - dark-haired young men - are seen wheeling suitcases at Cologne station.

Timers

Investigators first thought the bombs were part of a blackmail attempt but they now believe the incident was the work of a terrorist group based in Germany.

A note written in Arabic, a telephone number in Lebanon, and packets of starch with labels in Arabic and English were found alongside the devices.

The identical suitcase bombs were fitted with timers set to go off 10 minutes before the trains arrived in Dortmund and Koblenz.

Police think they failed to detonate because of a construction flaw.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5281208.stm

I somehow doubt this attack can be blamed on a understandable reaction to the western invasion of Iraq, or a covert operation by the CIA/Bush/Martians.

Perhaps radical Islam really does want to wage war on the west, for reasons of its own.