Norway police apprehend three suspects in 'terror bombing' of US embassy

By Terje Solsvik

OSLO, March 11 (Reuters) - Norwegian police said on Wednesday they had apprehended three brothers suspected of carrying out Sunday's bombing at the U.S. embassy in Oslo, in an attack investigators have branded an act of terrorism.

The powerful early-morning blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) damaged the entrance to the embassy's consular section but caused no injuries, Norwegian authorities have said.

The three suspects, all in their 20s, are Norwegian citizens with a family background from Iraq, police said.

"They are suspected of a terror bombing," Police Attorney Christian Hatlo told reporters.

"We believe they detonated a powerful bomb at the U.S. embassy with the intention of taking lives or causing significant damage," Hatlo said, adding that none of the suspects had so far been interrogated.

One of the men was believed to have planted the bomb while the two others were believed to have taken part in the plot, Hatlo said.

The brothers, who were not named, had not previously been subject to police investigations, he added.

A lawyer representing one of the three men said he had only briefly met with his client and that it was too early to say how the suspect would plead.

Lawyers representing the two others did not immediately respond to requests for comment when contacted by Reuters.

"Although it is early in the investigation, it is important that the police have achieved what they characterise as a breakthrough in the case," Norway's Minister of Justice and Public Security Astri Aas-Hansen said in a statement.

Images of one of the suspects released by police on Monday showed a hooded person, whose face was not visible, wearing dark clothes and carrying a bag or rucksack.

Investigators on Monday said one hypothesis was that the incident was "an act of terrorism" linked to the war in the Middle East, but that other possible motives were also being explored.

Police are now investigating whether the bombing was done on behalf of a foreign state, Hatlo said, reiterating that they were also looking into other possible motives.

Europe has been on alert for possible attacks as the U.S. and Israel conduct air strikes on Iran and Iran strikes Israel and U.S. targets in the Middle East.

On Monday, a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liege was damaged by a blast that authorities called an antisemitic attack. It was not clear who was behind it.