German police arrested three Danes, including an admitted jihadist, for a kidnapping in western Germany, German media reported on Monday. 

 

The three Danes, along with one Iraqi, were seized by a special police unit in a raid in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. They are suspected of kidnapping an Egyptian man in Aachen at the start of September. 

 

One of the three Danish suspects is a 22-year-old identified as 'Michael C.' from Aarhus, who has previously openly admitted on Danish television to fighting alongside Islamic extremists in Syria.

 

According to Der Spiegel, the 52-year-old kidnap victim was taken from the front of his apartment in the middle of the day and bundled into a car. The gang then phoned the man’s uncle and demanded a €10,000 (74,500 kroner) payment to secure his release.

 

But rather than paying, the uncle contacted police, who stormed the men in a fast food joint later that day. The prosecutor in Aachen is now investigating the case, but the Danish man's lawyer suggested he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

In a previous interview with a Danish television outlet, 'Michael C' said that he converted to Islam while in jail. By his own account, he has travelled to Syria on at least three occasions.