2 More Jailed in German Train Bomb Plot

Members of the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation and police load evidence from a student residence at the Jakob-Burckhardt street in Konstanz, southern Germany, into a car, Friday, Aug. 25, 2006. German police arrested a third suspect on Friday in connection with a failed attempt to blow up two trains. The man arrested in the Konstanz student residence, whose identity was not released, was detained on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization, attempting to set off an explosion and multiple counts of attempted murder. (AP Photo/Keystone/Regina Kuehne) (Regina Kuehne - AP)

BERLIN -- Police arrested a third suspect Friday in connection with a failed attempt to blow up two trains, while Lebanese authorities picked up a fourth man believed to have been involved, officials said.

The man arrested in Germany, whose identity was not released, was detained in the southern city of Konstanz on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization, attempting to set off an explosion and multiple counts of attempted murder.

"Whether, and to what extent he was involved in preparing the attacks is the subject of the investigation," said Frauke Scheuten, spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office.

Prosecutors said the man was an associate of Youssef Mohamad el Hajdib, one of two Lebanese men accused of planting the bombs July 31.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza said police in his country detained a 24-year-old man, whom he identified only as H.K.D., on suspicion he was involved in the failed bombing plot.

Mirza said information received from the second suspect, Jihad Hamad, led to the arrest.

After a nearly three-week lull following the attempted bombings, the case has moved quickly in recent days. El Hajdib, 21, was arrested Aug. 19, and Hamad, 20, was arrested Thursday in Lebanon.

The two are accused of planting the bombs at the Cologne train station. The detonators for the devices went off, but the bombs failed to explode and were discovered on regional trains in Koblenz and Dortmund.

Germany's main Muslim organizations condemned the attempted bombings in a joint statement, saying "terror is a threat and a crime against all of humanity." The 16 groups said such plots hurt Muslims doubly because they are both potential victims and "we suffer from strengthened feelings that we are jointly guilty."

A German prosecutor and a federal agent arrived Friday in Beirut to take part in Hamad's interrogation, according to Germany's Federal Crime Office. Germany is seeking Hamad's extradition but officials have said the process could take months.

In an interview with AP Television News following the arrest, Hamad's father, Shaheed, said his son had been in Germany to study mechanics and work. He said he turned Jihad in to police in Lebanon when he heard about the allegations against him so that he could clear his name.

"I know my son is innocent and he had no relationship with anybody," he said. "I ask the Lebanese authorities not to mistreat him because he is innocent. We don't hate any people of any religion. He worships God."

The suspects are all accused of being part of a German-based terrorist organization. Prosecutors say they are treating it as a "no-name" group rather than a known entity.