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Dutch police hold second man in attack probe
04 Oct 2004 16:34:54 GMT

AMSTERDAM, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Dutch police have arrested a man on suspicion of possessing explosives which may have been intended for an attack, the second such arrest in a week, prosecutors said on Monday.

The 30-year-old man was arrested on Saturday in the central town of Utrecht suspected of involvement in terrorist activities, spokesman Wim de Bruin said.

"He is being held on suspicion he possessed and transported explosives which could possibly have been destined for use in an attack," he said, declining to identify the suspect or give further details.

A 37-year-old man was arrested the previous Sunday in his Utrecht home suspected of the same crimes. A magistrate will decide later this week whether to extend the temporary detention of the two men, de Bruin said.

As part of the same investigation, police last month raided a house in Utrecht and arrested two men and a woman on suspicion they were hiding explosives. But no explosives were found and they were released.

In a separate case, Dutch authorities last month said they had detained four men in July suspected of preparing attacks and belonging to radical Islamist organisations. Two of the men were Dutch nationals, one was from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen.

Another man arrested in June on suspicion of planning attacks appeared in court in public for the first time on Sept. 23. Police said they found cartridges, a bulletproof vest, a silencer, maps and sketches of key buildings in his home.

That arrest sparked a national security alert and came amid heightened fears of al Qaeda attacks against countries with armed forces in Iraq, where the Netherlands currently has some 1,300 troops stationed.

In September, the Dutch cabinet approved a package of measures to help fight terrorism, including creating a new national anti-terrorism coordinator, increasing the time suspects can be held and making bugging easier.