Seven Amsterdam terror suspects released

BRUSSELS, March 14 -- All seven suspects arrested on Thursday on suspicion of planning a bomb attack in a busy shopping area in Amsterdam have been released, Dutch media reported Saturday.

The six men and a woman were arrested at four locations in Amsterdam after police received a tip-off at midnight Wednesday from a telephone call from Belgium. All seven are Dutch nationals of Moroccan descent.

Dutch police searched houses of the suspects but found no explosives. Although some stolen goods were found at the house of one of the suspects, the goods were not related to terrorist threats, reports said.

The Dutch public prosecution department no longer suspected the seven people and the investigation will focus on the person who warned the police using a pre-paid mobile phone from Brussels.

Following the phone warning Dutch police sealed off a shopping area in the Bijlmer district in southeastern Amsterdam on Thursday. All stores reopened on Friday, but police are keeping a close eye on the area, reports said.

It was not the first time that the Netherlands sounded a terrorist alert. In 2001, 2004 and 2007, police carried out operations against suspected terrorists, but each time it turned out to be a false alarm.