German prosecutes said on Monday that Germany hold six persons under investigation over an alleged plan to blow up a commercial air flight that belongs to the Israeli Airlines EL Al. The suspects were detained on Friday, but five of them were released Saturday after questioning. The remaining suspect was kept in custody over an unrelated matter.
The six were under investigation for plotting to blow the El Al commercial aircraft in Frankfurt, German prosecutors reported on Monday.
Germen federal prosecutes said that the suspects are believed to have conspired on behalf on “unknown terrorist backers”.
Officials at EL Al said that they had no information on the incident and that they were surprised to learn of the report since they were not notified by the German authorities and only knew about it from the media.
The German law does not allow the authorities to keep any suspect in custody for more than 48 hours without an evidence to convince a judge they the suspects must remain for under investigation for a longer period.
Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that according to an official statement, some of the suspects approached an airport employee with security clearance at the Frankfurt International Airport last summer, and convinced the person to smuggle a case or bag containing explosives onto an El AL plane in an exchange for an unspecified payment.
Haaretz added that the preparations were stopped because there was a disagreement with the employee on the amount he should receive.
German Interior Ministry spokesman Stefan Kaller refused to comment on details of the alleged plot, the timing and the airport in question, but pointed out that investigation is ongoing.
