Alleged Suitcase Bombers Initially Planned World Cup Attack

Lebanon's general prosecutor has opposed transferring to Germany two Lebanese men suspected of taking part in a plot to bomb German trains in late July, an online magazine reported Friday.

Jihad Hamad, arrested August 24 in Lebanon and his suspected accomplice, Ayman Hawa, are "Lebanese citizens, their trial needs to take place here, and they must serve here any sentence they may be given," the prosecutor, Said Mirza, told the German Internet-based magazine Focus Online.

The investigation into Hamad, suspected of having planted one of the two bombs that failed to explode on July 31, as well as the other suspect "has ended," the prosecutor said, adding that the suspects, if convicted, could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison in Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities have said the suspects may be linked to al Qaeda.

Hamad and another suspect, Mohammed El Hajdib, are suspected of having hidden bombs in suitcases which were found on two regional trains heading for the western German cities of Koblenz and Hamm, near Dortmund.

The bombs did not explode because of faulty timed detonators.

Carnage planned during soccer showcase

According to the German newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on Saturday, the investigation found that the suspected terrorists wanted initially to strike during the World Cup football finals from June 9 to July 9.

They changed their minds due to the risks and repercussions their act could have triggered, according to the newspaper.

The article also said the suspects belonged to a "new generation of terrorists" who worked together in cells for a short time.

Muhammad cartoons, al Zarqawi death the catalysts

A German investigator said Saturday that Hamad and El Hajdib were partially motivated by anger over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad last year and the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Hamad told interrogators in Lebanon that fellow Lebanese student El Hajdib "interpreted it as an attack of the Western world on Islam," said Jörg Ziercke, head of Germany's Federal Crime Office (BKA).

Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons of the prophet in September 2005. Muslims worldwide denounced the drawings, one of which showed Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.

Some of the caricatures were republished in German newspapers and other European media months later, sparking furious protests across the Muslim world, with rioters torching Danish and other Western embassies.

Zierke added that the suspects were were also influenced by
the killing of al Zarqawi in June. "The two main suspects believed international terrorism had lost one of its chief leaders," said Ziercke.

The two men had "a certain base ideology" when they came to live in Germany, but gained more radical views "through Al-Qaeda Internet propaganda," the BKA chief added.

Fourth suspect arrested

Meanwhile the Lebanese authorities announced Saturday that they had arrested a fourth suspect in connection with the plan and have filed preliminary charges against five Lebanese and a Syrian, judicial sources said.

The fourth suspect, identified as Khalil al-Bubbu, will face charges of attempted mass murder in passenger trains in Germany and attempted arson, they said. The sources gave no details of the arrest.