Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Danish police arrested eight ``militant Islamists'' with alleged al-Qaeda links on suspicion of plotting a ``major'' attack.
Police held the men, whose ages are between 19 and 29, in the Copenhagen area today, Jakob Scharf, head of the Security Intelligence Service, told a news conference in the capital.
``With the arrests, we've prevented a major act of terrorism,'' Scharf said. The suspects are ``militant Islamists with international connections including ties to al-Qaeda.''
Danish intelligence-gathering efforts and security were stepped up when the Nordic country was singled out as a target by al-Qaeda after the July 7, 2005, London bombings. Today's arrests mark the third time in two years Danish police have detained terrorism suspects.
The men, of Afghani, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin, are suspected of having produced ``unstable explosives,'' Scharf said. Police will seek to charge them under Denmark's terrorism law, which can carry a life sentence.
``We have investigated these people for some months,'' Scharf said. ``After having been pushed back, al-Qaeda is now regaining its foothold and is capable of planning and completing terror attacks in the West, including Denmark.''
``This is very worrying,'' Justice Minister Lene Espersen said in an e-mailed statement. ``It's therefore extremely important for the government to make sure that the intelligence service has the necessary tools to fight terrorism,'' Espersen said, referring to recent anti-terrorism legislation.
Scharf wouldn't say where police suspect the detainees planned to carry out an attack. Officers raided 11 Copenhagen apartments at 2:00 a.m. local time and found ``materials and objects'' that were being used to produce explosives.
``We had to move today, also due to safety reasons,'' Scharf said. ``They were producing an unstable explosive in an apartment building in a densely populated Copenhagen area.''
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