4 held in Poland on explosive charges

Polish authorities have arrested four suspects accused of planning to send incendiary devices and explosive charges in air freight packages on behalf of a foreign intelligence services, reported dpa.

Two other suspects are being sought internationally, a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office told the Polish PAP news agency.

According to the investigators, the group is said to have sent parcels with hidden explosives and other dangerous materials via courier services to other EU countries and the United Kingdom.

The parcels were intended to ignite or explode during transport by land or air.

Initially, there was no information as to whether any of the packages had exploded.

According to investigators, the group also aimed to test the transport route for such packages to the United States and Canada.

The latest arrest comes one week after German intelligence services warned that a similar incident believed to be linked to Russia could have caused a plane crash this year.

A package caught fire in July at a DHL logistics centre in the eastern city of Leipzig, setting a cargo container alight.

Thomas Haldenwang, the head of the domestic intelligence agency (BfV), told lawmakers in a public session of a parliamentary oversight committee that only a lucky coincidence had prevented the package from bursting into flame while aboard a plane.

Poland earlier this week closed the Russian consulate general in the western city of Poznań. Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski justified the step with evidence that Russian secret services have been behind arson attacks in the country.