Dutch police release 11 Somalis detained after terror alarm

Berlin, Dec 29, IRNA -- Dutch police have released all but one of 12 Somalis detained during a Christmas Eve counter-terrorist raid, media reports said here Tuesday.

An investigative judge ruled earlier in the day that a 29-year-old man of Somali origin must remain in detention for three more days amid the ongoing investigation.

According to Dutch prosecutors, two Somalis, aged 47 and 44, are still regarded as suspects but there was not sufficient evidence to keep them in detention.

There was nothing to tie the other nine, aged between 19 and 48, to any terrorist acts, prosecutors stressed.

Police arrested the 12 men of Somali descent on December 24 in the port city of Rotterdam, in the wake of a terror warning by the Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD.

Dutch police did not find any explosives or arms in the anti-terror sweep.

Relatives of 12 Somali men accused by Dutch authorities of planning a terrorist attack said the arrested suspects were innocent.

Speaking to the Dutch daily De Telegraaf, the brother of one of the suspects emphasized the men had 'nothing to do with terrorism.'
'We're normal, hard-working people. It must be a big misunderstanding,' he added./end