Germany arrests al Qaeda suspects

German authorities arrested two men yesterday suspected of plotting an al Qaeda suicide attack in Iraq. The federal prosecutor's office identified the arrested men as Ibrahim Mohammed K., a 29-year-old Iraqi believed to be a high-ranking al Qaeda...

German authorities arrested two men yesterday suspected of plotting an al Qaeda suicide attack in Iraq.

The federal prosecutor's office identified the arrested men as Ibrahim Mohammed K., a 29-year-old Iraqi believed to be a high-ranking al Qaeda figure, and Yasser Abu S., a 31-year-old stateless Palestinian.

Police raided four homes in the western cities of Mainz and Bonn early yesterday. The men, both arrested in Mainz, are accused of belonging to a foreign terrorist organisation. Both had been under surveillance since October.

Federal Prosecutor Kay Nehm told a news conference the Iraqi had recruited the second suspect last September as a future suicide bomber in Iraq. He said there was no indication they planned an attack in Germany.

They planned to pretend that Yasser Abu S. had been killed in a car accident in Egypt and claim over €800,000 from a life insurance policy to fund the suicide bombing and other attacks.

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