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Al-Shaba suspects arrested

September 8, 2014

Prosecutors in Germany have alleged that three men, arrested at Frankfurt airport, are members of the Somali militant group al-Shabab. The German nationals were taken into custody after returning from Kenya.

https://p.dw.com/p/1D8iv
Aus für Nachtflüge am Frankfurter Flughafen
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Prosecutors said Monday that the men had been arrested on terrorism charges. The three were arrested at the airport Saturday, then brought before a judge the following day and placed in pre-trial detention.

"The detained suspects allegedly traveled to Somalia between 2012 and 2013 to join the al-Shabab there," the prosecutor said in a statement, adding that they allegedly received weapons training and "joined them in armed combat."

The men are being held on "strong suspicion of membership in a foreign terrorist organization and of preparing an act of violence threatening state security," in Somalia. They were identified only as Steven N., 26, Abdullah W., 28, and Abdulsalam W., 23.

Prosecutors said that at the moment, "there is no evidence the suspects had made any concrete preparations or plans for attacks in Europe."

Police also searched the home of a fourth, unidentified suspect, prosecutors added.

Al-Shabab is currently active in Somalia and Kenya. The group was responsible for an attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi last year that 67 people dead.

The leader of al-Shabab, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in a US airstrike in Somalia last week.

dr/hc (AFP, AP, dpa)