Germany to extradite Syrian terror suspect to Netherlands

A German court on Wednesday ordered the extradition to the Netherlands of a Syrian suspected of planning a "terrorist crime" there along with four other accused.

The 26-year-old Syrian was arrested in the German city of Mainz on December 29, the same day four alleged co-conspirators were detained in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

Dutch police at the time said the men were suspected of "involvement in the preparation of a terrorist crime", without giving further details.

The higher regional court in Koblenz said in a statement that it had approved the Dutch authorities' extradition request for the Syrian.

The transfer is expected to take place "early next week", Koblenz prosecutor Juergen Brauer added in a separate statement.

The Netherlands has been largely spared the kind of terror attacks which have rocked its closest European neighbours in the past few years, but there has been a series of recent scares.

Last June two terror suspects were arrested while close to carrying out attacks including at an iconic bridge in Rotterdam and in France, prosecutors said.

In August a 19-year-old Afghan with a German residence permit stabbed and injured two American tourists at Amsterdam's busy Central Station before being shot and wounded.

In September Dutch investigators said they had arrested seven people and foiled a "major attack" on civilians at a large event in the Netherlands.

They said they had found a large quantity of bomb-making materials including fertiliser likely to be used in a car bomb.