Terror suspects taken from KLM plane

Friday 26 September 2008

German police removed two terrorist suspects from a KLM plane in Cologne 10 minutes before it took off for Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on Friday morning.

The two men arrested are believed to be a 23-year-old Somali and a 24-year-old German with a Somali background who had been under surveillance by the German police for two months. The police are reported to have found a suicide note in the home of the men.

According to the German police, the men were not planning to hijack the plane, reports the Telegraaf. It was still unclear at press time what form of attack the suspects were planning, but the paper said they were not believed to be a threat to the Netherlands. One possibility is that the two men were planning to fly on to Africa.

Dutch counter terrorism coördinator Tjibbe Joustra told Nos news on Friday afternoon that he sees no need to tighten the country’s security measures following the incident. Neither have extra precautions been taken by the military police at Schiphol airport.

Contrary to initial reports in the local media that the plane was stormed by commandos, it appears the arrest was carried out by ordinary police officers, says the Telegraaf.

The KL 1804 flight to Amsterdam was due to leave Germany just after 7am with 48 passengers on board. The plane departed an hour later and arrived at Schiphol airport at around 9.15am.

© DutchNews.nl

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