Norway, US Bust 3 in Plot Linked to al-Qaeda

Three suspected al-Qaeda members were arrested this morning in what Norwegian and US officials said was a terrorist plot linked to similar plans in New York and England. The three men, two of whom were detained in Norway and one in Germany, had been under surveillance for more than a year. Officials believe they were planning attacks with portable but powerful bombs like the ones at the heart of last year's thwarted suicide attack in the New York City subway.

Officials believe the Norway plan was organized by Salah al-Somali, al-Qaeda's now-dead chief of external operations, who has been identified as one of the masterminds of the New York subway plot. Two men have pleaded guilty in that case, admitting they planned to detonate explosives during rush hour. A third awaits trial. Officials said it was not clear the men had selected a target for the attacks but they were attempting to make peroxide bombs, the powerful homemade explosives that prosecutors say were attempted in both New York and England. Officials did not say why Norway was a target, but al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri has called for attacks on Norway.