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Irish anti-terrorist police arrest four

Irish police arrested the four in south Dublin

Irish police said they were arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

It is understood three of the four are Libyans and one is Algerian.

A police spokesman said the four may be held for up to 72 hours under the act.

The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation was now dealing with the case, he said.

Ireland's state broadcaster, RTE, said they were being held at Terenure and Kevin Street Garda Stations.

Investigation

It said the four men were arrested in south Dublin on Tuesday morning by detectives.

The four are aged 39, 31, 26 and 24, it said, and were arrested under the Explosive Substances Act.

RTE said the arrests were part of an investigation into international terrorist groups connected to Osama bin Laden's al Queda network.

Bin Laden is suspected of having been behind the 11 September bomb attacks on the United States.

RTE said one of the men is a naturalised Irish citizen and has lived in the Republic of Ireland for more than 20 years.

It said he is married with children and that another man is related to a suspect for the attempted attack in Los Angeles over the millennium.