Norway arrests three for links to al-Qaeda

Officials in Norway said the men were suspected of planning to use bombs containing peroxide that were both powerful and easily transported,though they did not provide details on any potential targets. Two of the suspects were arrested in Norway,and a third in Germany.

A statement from the office of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said that prosecutors were still investigating the case against the three men and that the question of guilt has not yet been decided.

Siv Alsen,a spokeswoman for the Norwegian Police Security Services,said in a telephone interview that there could be further arrests as a result of continuing investigations. The detentions were the first involving terrorism suspects in Norway since 2006,she said.

The detentions followed the arrest in England on Wednesday of a man whom the US is seeking to have extradited in connection with the plot to bomb New Yorks subway system last year. British prosecutors identified the man as Abid Naseer,24,who appeared in a London court on Wednesday. The arrests came a day after federal prosecutors in Brooklyn formally charged US citizen Adnan G el-Shukrijumah with several crimes.

One of the suspects was a 39-year-old Norwegian citizen of belonging to the Chinese Uighur community and has been in Norway since 1999,the police said. Another was a 31-year-old Uzbek citizen who arrived in Norway in 2002 and had permanent residency,the police said. The third was a 37-year-old Iraqi citizen of Kurdish background who went to Norway in 1999 and has permanent residency.