U.S.: Anti-terror program leads to arrests

BRUSSELS, July 10 (UPI) -- A U.S. anti-terrorism program tracking bank transactions helped nab three al-Qaida suspects charged in a planned Norway attack, the Obama administration said.

The U.S. Terrorism Finance Tracking Program relied on international bank transactions recorded by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, based in Belgium, in the investigation leading to the arrests, Stuart Levey, U.S. under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a conference call with journalists, the EUobserver reported Friday.

"I can tell you the Terrorism Finance Tracking Program provided support to the Norwegian investigation of that al-Qaida threat," Levey said.

His comments came after the European Parliament in Strasbourg approved a U.S.-EU agreement on access to data from SWIFT, which had been interrupted in February over privacy concerns.

Norwegian police say the men, arrested Thursday, were suspected of having ties to al-Qaida in a conspiracy with links to the United States and Britain.

The men, one of whom was arrested in Germany, are accused of planning attacks similar to the thwarted plot to attack the New York subway system. Norwegian police say the suspects planned to use powerful, easily transported bombs containing peroxide.

The EUobserver said one of the suspects is a 39-year old Norwegian citizen, a Muslim Uighur from China, who has lived in Norway since 1999; one is an Iraqi 37-year-old granted Norwegian residency on humanitarian grounds; and one is an Uzbek national, 31, granted permanent residency in Norway for family reunification.