Terrorist train bombs failed to detonate in Germany : Hezbollah funded Lebanese student arrested - accomplice being sought

German police released security camera footage on Friday

The man, 21, was detained at the main rail station in the city of Kiel.

The arrest follows the release of closed circuit TV footage of two male suspects by police on Friday.

The devices in abandoned suitcases on two trains failed to go off. Police said the bombers had intended to kill large numbers of people.

The student had been studying in the Baltic Sea port city of Kiel, where he was arrested in the early morning. He had been in Germany since 2004.

Chief prosecutor Monika Harms said he had apparently been planning to flee the country.

Reports say police searched his home in the city on Saturday afternoon.

He is believed to be "one of the two suspects that have been sought since yesterday with the help of video footage that was made public," the public prosecutors' office said.

In the video, the two suspects - dark-haired young men - are seen wheeling suitcases at Cologne station. Joerg Ziercke, head of Germany's Federal Crime Office, told reporters in the city he was confident that "we caught the right suspected bomb planter here in Kiel today".

Second suspect

Investigators first thought the bombs were part of a blackmail attempt, but they now believe the incident was the work of a terrorist group based in Germany.

Faulty construction may be why the devices failed to go off

A note written in Arabic, a telephone number in Lebanon, and packets of starch with labels in Arabic and English were found alongside the devices.

The authorities say they are investigating a possible link to Lebanon but they also haven't ruled out a link to Pakistan.

The identical suitcase bombs were fitted with timers set to go off 10 minutes before the trains arrived in Dortmund and Koblenz.

Police think they failed to detonate because of a construction flaw.

While the German authorities said the arrest is a major breakthrough in their investigation they warn that the second suspect is still at large.

Security has since been stepped up at German airports, and the rail authorities have announced they are installing more closed circuit TV cameras at stations.

Police are still trying to work out why the devices did not explode

The bombs were in identical black cases on trains in Dortmund and Koblenz.

They had been timed to explode 10 minutes before the trains arrived, said federal crime chief Joerg Ziercke.

"We are now working on the basis that this was the work of a terrorist group... and was an attempt to kill a large number of people," he said.

Police want to trace two men seen on CCTV wheeling cases at Cologne station.

Initial suggestions that the bombs may have been an attempt to blackmail a train company had been ruled out, Mr Ziercke said.

He said police were working on the theory that the group responsible were based in Germany.

The Arabic note found with one of the bombs lists grocery items

The devices consisted of gas canisters, alarm clocks, wires, batteries and a flammable liquid in soft drink bottles.

A handwritten note in Arabic, listing groceries, a telephone number in Lebanon and packets of starch labelled in Arabic and English, were also found.

Mr Ziercke said up to 100 investigators were trying to work out why the devices failed to detonate. "We still have many unanswered questions," he said.

He appealed to the public for help in tracking down the people who planted the device.