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| Pair held over suspected explosives plot in Switzerland | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Two men of Syrian origin are in custody in Switzerland suspected of manufacturing explosives, the attorney general’s office has said. | |
| Geneva security officials had recently raised the alert level in the city in connection with a hunt for four suspects linked to the Paris attacks on 13 November, but it is as yet unclear if these arrests are directly linked to that operation. | Geneva security officials had recently raised the alert level in the city in connection with a hunt for four suspects linked to the Paris attacks on 13 November, but it is as yet unclear if these arrests are directly linked to that operation. |
| The two men are being held on suspicion they manufactured, concealed and transported explosives, as well as for violating federal law which bans membership of groups affiliated to Islamic State or al-Qaida. The attorney general’s office had earlier said the suspects were believed to have had toxic gas. | |
| Related: Geneva on maximum alert in hunt for four Paris attack suspects | Related: Geneva on maximum alert in hunt for four Paris attack suspects |
| The pair were arrested on Friday in Geneva, a statement said. No further information was given but a press conference was expected to take place on Saturday afternoon. The arrests took place on Friday on the road outside Cologny, a municipality in the canton of Geneva, SwissInfo reported. Police were reported to have closed the road for several hours on Friday night after the arrests. | |
| Earlier this week, Swiss media circulated police images of four men alleged to be members of Isis, whom authorities were hunting, reportedly after a US intelligence tipoff. In a statement, the Geneva department of security said: “In the framework of investigations carried out following the Paris attacks, at the international and national level, Geneva police and their partners are actively looking for people whose description has been provided by the Swiss Confederation.” | Earlier this week, Swiss media circulated police images of four men alleged to be members of Isis, whom authorities were hunting, reportedly after a US intelligence tipoff. In a statement, the Geneva department of security said: “In the framework of investigations carried out following the Paris attacks, at the international and national level, Geneva police and their partners are actively looking for people whose description has been provided by the Swiss Confederation.” |
| The department would not comment on whether the four being hunted were believed to have had any direct role in the Paris attacks, where 130 people were killed by gunmen and suicide bombers. | The department would not comment on whether the four being hunted were believed to have had any direct role in the Paris attacks, where 130 people were killed by gunmen and suicide bombers. |
| Swiss justice minister, Simonetta Sommaruga, told journalists on Friday that authorities had no reason to believe that terrorists were planning a specific attack in Switzerland. | Swiss justice minister, Simonetta Sommaruga, told journalists on Friday that authorities had no reason to believe that terrorists were planning a specific attack in Switzerland. |
| Pierre Maudet, Geneva’s head of the security and economic affairs department, told the local Le Temps newspaper that security in the city would be heightened but played down connections to the recent situation in Brussels. “We can’t say that an attack has been foiled today,” Maudet said, but said precautions continue “while the more precise threat still exists”. | Pierre Maudet, Geneva’s head of the security and economic affairs department, told the local Le Temps newspaper that security in the city would be heightened but played down connections to the recent situation in Brussels. “We can’t say that an attack has been foiled today,” Maudet said, but said precautions continue “while the more precise threat still exists”. |