German anti-terror swoop nets two

German police searched homes, offices and mosques

German police have arrested two men in raids across the country as part of investigations into Islamist terror networks, officials say.

Officers searched about 30 buildings, including businesses and mosques, in Germany and neighbouring Belgium.

An Egyptian and a Tunisian were arrested in the searches on suspicion of links to Islamist groups, money-laundering and tax evasion.

Germany has arrested a number of terror suspects since 11 September, 2001.

In January, more than 700 officers were involved in raids which resulted in the detention of 22 suspected Islamist radicals.

Germany has made fighting alleged Islamist terror cells a key security priority, correspondents say, especially since the country was shocked to find that some of the suicide hijackers in the 11 September attacks were based in the northern city of Hamburg.

'Nowhere to hide'

German police said the Tunisian arrested in Thursday's raids, who was aged 43, had been involved in terror attacks in Tunisia in the 1990s and had made money transfers to suspected extremist groups.

Police said the detained Egyptian, also 43, had links to Islamist groups and organisations across Germany.

Bavaria's Interior Minister, Guenther Beckstein, said the operation showed there was nowhere for Islamist extremists to hide.

"We will increasingly put pressure on Islamic extremists and also use any means... to ensure that the most dangerous people and hate preachers are removed from our state," he said, according to the AFP news agency.