Iraqi suspect says unaware of Danish terror plot

Danish police officers stand guard as one of four suspect arrested on suspicion of planning a shooting attack on the office of a newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad arrives at a court in Glostup, south of Copenhagen, on Thursday. Photo: AP.

An Iraqi suspect in a terror plot against a Danish newspaper that published Prophet Muhammad cartoons says he “had no idea” of the plans by three other men.

Abdullah Muhammed Salman says in an interview published on Friday that he sublet an apartment for a Swedish acquaintance and his wife but that “suddenly there were three men instead.”

Salman was quoted as telling the Ekstra Bladet daily that he did not know the three other suspects, who were remanded in custody on a Danish court order on Thursday.

Police say the group had planned a shooting spree at the Jyllands-Posten newspaper’s Copenhagen newsdesk. The four men were arrested on Wednesday, but Salman was released. Police have not named the suspects, but Salman identified himself to the newspaper.