Germans Arrest 3 in Alleged Terror Plot

An unidentified man, left, believed to be a terror suspect, is led away at the German Federal Court in Karlsruhe, southern Germany, Wednesday, Sept.5, 2007. Authorities said Wednesday they had arrested three suspected Islamic terrorists from a group with "profound hatred of U.S. citizens'' for plotting imminent, massive bomb attacks on U.S. facilities in Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) (Michael Probst - AP)

Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms said the three suspects intended to attack institutions and establishments frequented by Americans in Germany, including discos, pubs and airports. Her office said the plan was to set off car bombs.

"We were able to succeed in recognizing and preventing the most serious and massive bombings," Harms said at a news conference. She declined to name specific targets.

"There was an imminent threat," Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung told ARD broadcaster.

A senior State Department official said German investigators determined that Frankfurt International Airport and the nearby U.S. Ramstein Air Base were the primary targets, although other sites may have under consideration. The official agreed to discuss the confidential between American and German intelligence agencies only if not quoted by name.

Germany's government had been increasingly worried about the danger of terror plots after attacks on its troops serving in Afghanistan, and security measures had been stepped up.

"This shows that terrorist dangers, in our country as well, are not abstract but are real," Chancellor Angela Merkel said. She thanked security officials for foiling the attack and called the arrests a "very, very great success."

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said President Bush was pleased a potential attack was thwarted and expressed appreciation for the work of German authorities.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the FBI and Department of Homeland Security saw "no imminent threat to the U.S. domestically following these arrests."

Germany's elite GSG-9 anti-terrorist unit arrested two of the suspects at a vacation home in Oberschledorn, a town of some 900 people in central Germany, officials said. The third suspect fled out a bathroom window but was caught about 300 yards away, they said.

The suspects were taken before a judge in closed sessions Wednesday at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe and ordered held pending trial.

Prosecutors said the three _ identified only as Fritz Martin G., 28; Adem Y., 28; and Daniel Martin S., 21 _ first came to the attention of police when one or more of them carried out surveillance of U.S. military facilities in Hanau, near Frankfurt, in late 2006.

Officials said that during the first part of this year, the men acquired 12 containers of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide solution, which can be combined with other material to make explosives _ as did the four London suicide bombers who blew up three subway cars and a bus on July 7, 2005.