February 20, 2013

(JTA) — Nigerian authorities arrested three men suspected of staking out U.S and Israeli targets on behalf of Iran.

The Associated Press quoted Nigerian police as saying Wednesday that the three men — alleged cell leader Abdullahi Berende, Sulaiman Saka and Saheed Adewumi — staked out the offices of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Peace Corps, as well as the Israeli cultural center in Lagos. Haaretz separately reported that the men staked out Zim, a major Israeli shipper.

Also targeted were prominent Nigerian Muslim and military leaders, according to the police statement.

Berende, the police said, was trained in handling weapons and explosive devices in Iran, and had studied there.

The police did not say how they established a link between the suspects and Iran.

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