Denmark holds Muslims over 'plot'

Danish police were acting on a tip-off from authorities in the Balkans

Four men have been arrested in the Danish capital Copenhagen on suspicion of planning a suicide attack in Europe.

A court ordered the men - all Muslims aged 16 to 20 - to be remanded in custody until 16 November while investigations continue.

The arrests were linked to a recent inquiry in the Balkans in which arrests were made and large quantities of explosives were found, police said.

No details were given of the intended target of the group's alleged plot.

"We suspect the four young men of being participants in preparation of terrorist acts somewhere in Europe," said police spokesman Joern Bro.

"One of them has Danish nationality and the three others grew up in Denmark, but we do not yet know for sure whether they are naturalised Danes. They are all of Middle Eastern origin," Mr Bro said.

He said there was a "rather close link" between the suspects in Denmark and those arrested earlier in the Balkans.

Incitement

The three held in the Balkans were Turkish, Swedish and Bosnian nationals suspected of preparing an attack on the British or American embassies in Sarajevo.

In September, a Moroccan-born Danish Muslim was charged with inciting fellow Muslims to a holy war.

He was the first person to be charged under a Danish anti-terrorism law enacted in 2002 following the 11 September 2001 attacks.

The laws makes it illegal to incite acts of terrorism or offer advice to terrorists and carries a penalty of up to six years in jail.