Terror plot foiled

last updated 8 January 2015

Heidelberg, Germany

Police arrested a German couple this week on suspicion of planning a chemical attack on the U.S. military base at Heidelberg. Astrid Eyzaguirre, 23, a German woman with an American father, warned a colleague at the PX where she worked to stay home on Sept. 11 because “something bad would happen.” The suspicious colleague tipped off police, who searched the apartment Eyzaguirre shared with her ethnic Turkish boyfriend, 25-year-old Osman Petmezci. They found 287 pounds of chemicals, five pipe bombs, and a picture of Osama bin Laden—and promptly arrested the couple. Police said they did not believe Petmezci, who was raised in Germany, was part of an Islamic terror network, but they did say he “harbors a hatred for Americans and Jews.” Heidelberg is the headquarters for U.S. forces in Europe.