Eight arrested in alleged bomb plot

Danish police arrested eight young Muslims in pre-dawn raids yesterday on suspicion of plotting a bomb attack and having links with al Qaeda.

Jakob Scharf, director of the Danish police's Security Intelligence Service, did not say what the alleged target was or in which country.

But he said it was the first such direct al Qaeda connection discovered in Denmark and that Danish intelligence had cooperated with unnamed foreign security services during an investigation that lasted several months.

"These are militant Islamists with connections to high-ranking members of al Qaeda," Mr Scharf told a news conference. "We believe this was a serious situation."

"Our investigation has shown that some of the suspects had acquired materials to make explosives," he said.