Germans arrest two over failed train bombs

German police have detained one of two men they believe planted makeshift bombs on German trains last month.

German police have detained one of two men they believe planted makeshift bombs on German trains last month.

Police seized the suspect at the main train station in the northern city of Kiel. Earlier, police had shut the station for five hours.

They said the move was linked to the investigation into two unexploded bombs that were discovered in abandoned suitcases on trains in Dortmund and Koblenz last month.

Police announced yesterday they were looking for two male suspects who were caught on video boarding the trains with the suitcases in Cologne.

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The footage of the two men, aged between 20 and 30, was put on the Internet to help the manhunt. Police have said the bombs - made with propane tanks, gasoline bottles and crude detonating devices - may have been part of a plot to show anger over the Middle East crisis.

Along with the bomb materials, they found a bag of starch with Arabic print and a shopping list in Arabic for olives, bread and Lebanese yoghurt.

The bombs were fitted with timers set to go off 10 minutes before the trains arrived in the two cities.

The explosives had been ignited but failed to detonate. If they had gone off, they would have killed a "high number" of people, the police said.

The news comes a week after Britain said it had foiled a plot to blow up transatlantic aircraft and amid discussions in Germany about sending troops to Lebanon as part of a United Nations peace-keeping force.