[Pfc.Green]

BERLIN (Reuters) - German officials said on Friday they had arrested an apparent follower of Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites) and his American fiancee on suspicion of planning attacks on U.S. sites to mark the anniversary of the September 11 attack.



Separately, the German prosecutor's office said U.S. authorities had arrested an Afghan-born German from the city of Hamburg, where three September 11 hijackers once lived, also on suspicion of planning attacks.

In Germany, police on Thursday arrested a 25-year-old German-born Turk suspected of building five bombs near the tourist city of Heidelberg. They also detained his 23-year-old American fiancee who works as a civilian at the commissary of the city's U.S. Army Europe headquarters, a closed military base.

"We have evidence that an attack was planned for September 11," said Thomas Schaeuble, interior minister for the southwest German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. "He seems to be a follower of Osama bin Laden who is deeply religious and harbors a hatred for Americans and Jews."

"According to our information she hated Jews as well."

The scenic Heidelberg area is home to 16,000 Americans who are soldiers, family members and support staff for the U.S. Army Europe headquarters, base spokesman Sandy Goss said.

The city is a popular destination for American tourists and students studying in Germany, and is where U.S. General George Patton died in a military hospital in 1945.

Schaeuble said the attacks would have been aimed against U.S. military installations and sites in the city center.

SECURITY TIGHTENED ACROSS EUROPE

Security has been tightened across Europe ahead of the first anniversary of the attacks on the United States in which more than 3,000 people died.

Washington has blamed Saudi-born dissident bin Laden and his al Qaeda network for the attacks with hijacked airliners, which destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and hit U.S. military headquarters at the Pentagon ( news - web sites) on Washington's outskirts.

Schaeuble said police had found shells for five bombs and 287 pounds of chemicals and electrical material. The suspect worked as a warehouse employee in a chemical factory.

"About 130 kilos (286 pounds) of chemicals intended to be used as explosives were found," he said.

Police also found a picture of bin Laden in the apartment of the man, who had a criminal record involving theft and drugs. He lived with his fiancee in the city of Walldorf near Heidelberg.

Military spokesman Goss said the American woman would have had a special identification card to gain access to the base, but would not necessarily have been a government employee. Schaeuble said Germany had received help from U.S. military officials in uncovering the case.

Schaeuble said it was unclear if the pair were part of an international group. "One must also consider the possibility of fanatical individuals," Schaeuble said.

He described the arrested couple as "uncooperative."

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Well at least the Germans are doing something.