BERLIN – German authorities said Friday they arrested a man with dual Turkish-German citizenship suspected of attempting to recruit supporters for Al Qaeda and procuring material that could be used to make a bomb.
The 24-year-old man, identified only as Adnan V., was arrested Thursday after police searched an apartment in Offenbach and a business in nearby Frankfurt, federal prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that a judge later ordered the man remain in detention pending the outcome of an investigation on suspicion of supporting Al Qaeda and "posing a threat to the state through preparation of a violent act."
The searches revealed "a small amount of a potentially explosive compound and a homemade electronic device which, according to an initial evaluation, could be used as a detonator," prosecutors said in a statement.
The man also "is suspected of seeking members or supporters for ... Al Qaeda by circulating propaganda material over the Internet," the statement said.
The prosecutors said there appears to be no direct link between the man and a recent spate of videos by extremists that have cited Germany's troop presence in Afghanistan.
Germany has been on heightened alert after several videos were released before elections Sunday. They made references to jihad, or holy war, and retribution against Germany, but did not mention any specific threats.
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