[JURIST] A Lebanese prosecutor Saturday charged six suspects – four held in Lebanon and two in Germany – with attempted murder after they were arrested in connection with a plot to blow up trains in Germany [BBC report] one month ago. The two suspects held in Germany, a Lebanese and a Syrian, were charged by the Lebanese prosecutor in absentia. Allegedly fueled by the publication of cartoons featuring the Prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive], the terrorists planted bombs inside suitcases which were left on trains at Cologne station; investigations show that the detonators went off but failed to ignite the bombs.

The Lebanese prosecutor's decision to charge the suspects signaled to Germany that Lebanon [JURIST news archive] would not extradite the four men held in Lebanon, despite a recent meeting in Beirut between German and Lebanese intelligence and security officials aimed at seeking extradition. Germany [JURIST news archive] is anxious to try the suspected terrorists, and German lawmakers have already put forward new anti-terror measures [JURIST report] in the wake of the plot. The International Herald Tribune has more.