Polish police arrest man in parliament bomb plot

PanARMENIAN.Net - Polish officials said on Tuesday, Nov 20, they had arrested a radical nationalist who planned to detonate a vehicle loaded with four tons of explosives outside parliament, possibly when the president and prime minister were in the building, Reuters reported.

Prosecutors said the man, a scientist who works for a university in the southern city of Krakow, had assembled a small arsenal of explosive material, guns and remote-controlled detonators and was trying to recruit others to help him.

A video recording taken from the suspect showed what prosecutors said was a test explosion he conducted, leaving a large crater in the ground.

Polish television, citing sources close to the investigation, said the suspect planned to copy methods used by Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Norway last year and said he was driven by far-right views.

"The suspect does not belong to a political group or party. He claims that he was acting on nationalistic, anti-Semitic and xenophobic motives," prosecutor Piotr Krason told a news conference.

"He carried out reconnaissance in the neighborhood of the Sejm (parliament). This building was to be the target of the attack. He collected explosives and materials for detonation," Krason said.