Authorities in Denmark say they have thwarted a terror attack with the arrest of eight people around the capital, Copenhagen.

A Danish intelligence service (PET) official told reporters Tuesday that the suspects are linked to a senior al-Qaida figure.

Jakob Scharf, head of the Danish intelligence service, known as PET, speaks during a press conference in Copenhagen, Tuesday, 04 Sept. 2007

Earlier, authorities said the group had been under surveillance and was planning a bomb attack.  No details of their intended target have been released.

The director of the Danish intelligence service Jakob Scharf said the suspects, arrested in a series of early morning raids Tuesday, range in age from 19 to 29, and are from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Turkey.  He said six of them hold Danish citizenship.

In April, a Danish court sentenced a Moroccan-born Danish man to three-and-a-half years in prison for promoting terrorism. 

He was the first person convicted under anti-terrorism legislation that Denmark passed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

On Wednesday, the trial of four Muslim men accused of plotting a terror attack is set to begin in Copenhagen.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.