Germany arrests al-Qaeda suspects

Frankfurt airport: Closely watched by the authorities

German police have arrested two Yemenis suspected of being leading members of al-Qaeda following a request from the US.

The two men were detained at a hotel at Frankfurt airport early on Friday.

One of them was named by security sources as Mohammed Ali Hassan Sheik al Mujahed, in his fifties, who is thought to be imam of a large mosque in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

A German Government spokesman said he expected the two would be extradited to the US as quickly as possible.

For the past year, German intelligence services have been closely monitoring movements through Frankfurt airport, which is a major transport hub for travel to Europe from the Middle East and Asia.

Hamburg connection

"The US made a request for judicial help from Germany. Executive steps were taken in that sense today," a spokeswoman for the federal criminal police was quoted as saying.

The BBC's Jonathan Charles in Frankfurt says the authorities there are keen to prove that they have strengthened security measures, as several of those involved in the 11 September attacks had lived undetected in Germany.

Three out of four pilots in the group that hijacked the planes used in 11 September attacks lived in Hamburg.

A Hamburg court is currently hearing the case against a Moroccan student, Mounir El Motassadeq, accused of being a member of the network set up by Osama Bin Laden.

The trial is the first in Europe in connection with the 11 September attacks.