Danish intelligence chief doubts in possibility to prove terror suspects fault

Evidence against seven people suspected of belonging to or helping a network planning a terror attack in Europe may be too weak to convict them, the head of Denmark's domestic intelligence said Friday. Lars Findsen, who heads the Danish Security Intelligence Service, suggested police foiled a terror plot, but that the early intervention made it hard to gather conclusive evidence.

"There is no doubt that we have stopped something that otherwise could have developed," Findsen was quoted as saying by the Ekstra Bladet newspaper. "But it is an open question whether a judge will find the suspicions proven." Danish police said the seven people arrested in Denmark were linked to two suspects detained in Bosnia on suspicion of preparing terrorist activities.

Swedish citizen Mirsad Bektasevic, 19, and Cesur Abdulkadir, 18, a Turkish national, have been jailed in Sarajevo but have not been charged. Police said they found explosives, a suicide belt, firearms and other military equipment in their apartment. British police have also made arrests linked to the case.

"The case reflects an intelligence service's eternal dilemma _ which is when to strike," Findsen said, according to Ekstra Bladet. "If we go in too early, we might not have conclusive evidence." "The most important thing is that we have prevented a threatening situation from arising," he said. Findsen could not immediately be reached for comment, but his agency said he had been correctly quoted.

"Whatever the outcome is for the seven, we consider the (case) a success," he was quoted as saying. "We are not in doubt that we have interrupted a chain of events that could have developed into something serious", reports the AP. N.U.