Germany today called off the May Day cycle race in Frankfurt, a day after a Turkish couple was arrested over suspicions of preparing to carry out a major terror attack at the international event.
Police foiled the alleged radical Islamist attack yesterday after conducting a pre-dawn raid on the couple's house in Oberursel and seized arms and ammunition from their residence, Police said.
"On the basis of the information we have at present, we have prevented a terrorist attack," Hesse's police commissioner Stefan Mueller said.
It is too early to establish the motives and the targets of the planned attack and the investigations are still continuing, he said.
Even though there is no concrete evidence that the two were plotting to strike at the annual cycle race on a track between the state capital Wiesbaden and Frankfurt, the authorities decided to call off the event in the interest of public safety, Hesse's state police said in a statement.
Investigators found a pipe bomb, chemicals to make more explosive devices as well as arms and ammunition during the pre-dawn raid, police added.
However, evidence collected during the raid and the contacts the suspects had with Salafists and other radical Muslim groups in Frankfurt pointed to an Islamist-motivated attack, Mueller told a news conference in the state capital of Wiesbaden.
A magistrate in Frankfurt later issued an arrest warrant against the 35-year-old Turk, who possess both Turkish and German nationalities and his 24-year-old Turkish wife.
Suspicions that the two may be planning to target Friday's cycle race "around the financial centres Eschborn-Frankfurt" have hardened after the main suspect was seen in the parking areas and the forests along the race track in the past few days.
This prompted the authorities to raid his house last night, Frankfurt's chief state prosecutor Albrecht Schreiber said.
The accused Turk has been known to police for his involvement in various offences, including robbery, cheating and illegal possession of weapons.
He also has been under police observation for his links with Salafists and other radical islamist groups.
Police began monitoring the couple after they purchased large quantities of hydrogen peroxide from a supermarket in Frankfurt at the end of March under a fake name, Mueller said.
