Prosecutors filed terrorism charges Tuesday against two alleged Islamic militants accused of preparing explosives for use in an attack in Denmark or abroad.
A third man was charged with allegedly urging the kidnapping of Danes abroad as a way to force Danish authorities to release the other two.
The charges stem from an anti-terror sweep Sept. 4 in the Copenhagen area during which eight men were arrested.
At the time, Denmark's intelligence service said the suspects were Islamic extremists with links to leading al-Qaida figures. But Director of Public Prosecutions Joergen Steen Soerensen did not mention any al-Qaida links when he filed charges Tuesday.
He said the two main suspects, ages 21 and 22, had acquired bomb-making material and conducted a test explosion using triacetone triperoxide, or TATP. That explosive was used by the four suicide bombers who killed 52 subway and bus passengers in London on July 7, 2005.
Steen Soerensen said the two men planned to build "one or more bombs for use in an act of terror" against an unspecified target, either in Denmark or abroad.
The third suspect was arrested Nov. 11. Authorities charged he was urging others to kidnap Danes abroad and use the hostages as bargaining chips to get the other suspects released. Authorities described him as a 23-year-old Dane of Turkish origin.
None of the three suspects was identified.
The six other men arrested Sept. 4 are still considered suspects in the investigation but have not been charged, said Mikkel Thastum, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office.
In September, the head of the PET intelligence service said the suspects were of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin. Six were described as Danish citizens and two as foreigners with residence permits.
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