Search Underway For Suspected Associates

German police boarded a KLM airliner Friday morning at Cologne-Bonn airport and removed two men suspected of plotting a terrorist attack, according to news reports.

The men were removed from the Fokker F50 turboprop shortly before it was to take off for Amsterdam, according to The New York Times.

German media reports the men had been under surveillance for months. They were taken into custody at the same time a related operation stormed their apartment, where police reportedly found suicide notes stating they wanted to die in "holy war," according to Radio Netherlands.

The men are believed to be a 23-year-old Somali, and a 24-year-old Somali-born German citizen.

Police spokeswoman Michaela Heyer called the arrest "entirely unspectacular," downplaying initial reports claiming the plane was stormed by police. The flight was delayed approximately one hour, while their baggage was removed and the plane was thoroughly searched.

There was "no indication" either man carried any weapons or explosives, Heyer added. The men are "suspected of wishing to participate in jihad and possible attacks."

The Tagesspiegel newspaper in Germany cited statements from unidentified security sources claiming the men planned to fly to Amsterdam and Uganda, en route to and Islamic Jihad Union camp in Pakistan.

Authorities are now working to find two other suspected accomplices, believed to be traveling from the Afghan/Pakistani border to somewhere in Europe. Those men are described as a 21-year-old German, and a 23-year-old Lebanese.

The group is suspected of having loose ties to German Omid Shirkhani and a Turkish citizen, Huseyin Ozgun, arrested last week on accusations of being linked to last year's bombing plot in Germany. Tagesspiegel reports the men arrested Friday may know an Islamist in Bonn who is also connected to the two other suspects now being sought.

FMI: German Federal Police Website (in German), www.klm.com