Deutsche Welle: Berlin police arrest two men in foiled bomb terror plot

German police arrested two men suspected of an unspecified bomb plot yesterday. The men had been under surveillance for "some time", after chemical supply companies alerted authorities to their suspicious purchases. Speculation is rife that the men, a German of Lebanese extraction and a Palestinian, planned a terror attack to coincide with either the tenth anniversary of 9-11 or the Pope's upcoming trip to his German homeland. A mosque was also searched as part of yesterday's arrests; authorities were careful to stipulate that the mosque is under no suspicion, but was searched as a precaution because the men were known to spend substantial amounts of time there.

The German Interior Minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, stated earlier this week that there are approximately 1,000 Muslim extremists in Germany, of whom around 120 are prepared to carry out terrorist attacks. Of these, he said, the vast majority are isolated individuals with no ties to larger groups.

Pope Benedict XVI will make an apostolic voyage to Germany from September 22-25. The Pope angered Muslims during a 2006 visit to Germany by quoting, during an address, an ancient Byzantine Emperor making a difficult and probing observation of Islam.

Berlin police stand guard in front of mosque searched in connection with the arrest of two potential terrorists yesterday.