Three alleged al Qaeda members were arrested Thursday morning in a Norwegian bomb plot officials are linking to similar schemes targeting New York and England.
Police officials said the men were planning attacks with small but powerful bombs made of peroxide, similar to a thwarted attack in on the New York City subway last year.
Two of the suspects were arrested in Norway, in the Oslo area, Norwegian authorities said. The third was captured in Germany, where he was vacationing, according to the Frankfurt general prosecutor's office.
The men were under surveillance for more than a year. Their names have not been released.
"We believe this group has had links to people abroad who can be linked to al-Qaeda, and to people who are involved in investigations in other countries, among others the United States and Britain," said Janne Kristiansen, the head of Norwegian security police.
FBI spokesperson Richard Kolko said the bureau worked closely with British and Norwegian authorities. The U.S. also handed over financial information collected as part of the investigation, according to the Treasury Department.
The arrests are linked to a similar alleged conspiracy in Manchester, England, where a man was arrested Wednesday on an extradition warrant to the U.S.
The men arrested in Norway included a 39-year-old Norwegian of Uighur origin who has lived in the country since 1999, and a 31-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan who had permanent Norwegian resident status, Kristiansen said.
The suspect arrested in Germany is a 37-year-old Iraqi with Norwegian residency, he said. Authorities are preparing to extradite him to Norway.
The Uighur suspect was in the Waziristan region of Pakistan around the same time as Najibullah Zazi, who was involved in the New York attempt, a U.S. official told the Associated Press. The two were at different training camps and did not meet, the official said.
Kjell T. Dahl, a lawyer for the Uzbek man, said his client was shocked to be arrested Thursday morning.
"He's a family man," said Dahl, who would not identify his client. "From what I can see and the way he behaves, he's an ordinary family man, a self-employed, moderate Muslim with no connection to any special mosques or groups of a religious or political character."
The lawyer described his client as an acquaintance of the Uighur man.
Officials believe the Norway plot was organized by Salah al-Somali, Al Qaeda's former chief of external operations.
Al-Somali was killed in a CIA drone attack last year.
Officials say it is not clear if there was a target chosen in the alleged plot.
Kristiansen said the timing of the arrests was necessary because news of the investigation was about to appear in the media.
"Such an exposure of the case, without a foregoing arrest, could have proved destructive to the investigation, and with great danger of destruction of evidence," Kristiansen said at a news conference in Oslo, Norway.
"We have not chosen this timing completely by ourselves, but we think that we have a solid case, which in the end, naturally, will be up to the courts to decide."
Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri has called for attacks against Norway, among many other countries.
Norway has 500 soldiers in Afghanistan.
With files from The Associated Press
