Copenhagen police are still at a loss to identify with certainty the man they arrested on Friday in connection with a minor explosion at the Jørgensen Hotel in the centre of the city, or to determine a motive, but do not rule out some form of failed terrorist act.
The man, described as being between 25 and 35 years of age, 169 cm. tall and seemingly of central or southern European of origin, speaks fluent French, English with a French accent and German and is thought to have used several aliases, among which are the names Raoul Foltz, David Francois J. de Vicq de Cumptich and Hans Veller. He has a false lower right leg and bears the mark of having had a broken nose.
Police say that the man they have in custody says he is a vegetarian and has asked for religious literature from various religious persuasions.
(2.15 p.m.) "We dont' know who he is and we are sure he's trying to hide his identity," says Copenhagen Police Spokesman Svend Foldager adding the man has no papers, no credit cards and even the serial number on his artificial leg has been removed.
CCTV photographs of the man have been widely distributed and published in the Danish media and reportedly sent to the international police circuit along with other details. The man, who has refused to cooperate with police in their inquiries, has been remanded in custody in isolation until Oct. 4..
It was at 1.39 p.m. on Friday that a minor explosion took place in a lavatory at the Jørgensen Hotel in central Copenhagen. Eyewitness reports spoke of a slightly injured man running away from the backpacker hotel and entering the Ørstedspark park nearby.
An extensive police operation eventually located the man, who was detained after bomb squad experts determined he was not carrying explosives. He was eventually taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries to his arms and face.
Inspection of the man’s belongings, however, turned up a diskette box purchased from a local post office, a roll of tape, a loaded pistol and a return bus reservation ticket to Belgium for Friday afternoon.
According to information that has been released, the man arrived at the Jørgensen Hotel on Sept. 7 and booked in. CCTV cameras at the hotel, as well as elsewhere, have shown that the man purchased a small diskette box from a local post office. CCTV images also seem to show that the man changed his appearance several times during his stay in Copenhagen.
A former Head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service Jørgen Bonnichsen has suggested that the fact that the man purchased a diskette box, could indicate that he was preparing a letter bomb in the hotel lavatory when the explosive went off. That assumption seems to be confirmed in that Police have since said that the amount of explosives found in the hotel lavatory could not have caused extensive damage.
The fact that he also reserved a return ticket to Belgium suggests he could not have been a suicide bomber.
So far, police appeals for information from the public, and particularly after the publication of CCTV images, have provided some 52 tips - predominantly as to the man's whereabouts at various times.
