The Logo of Dutch airline KLM at the Cologne Bonn Airport in Cologne, western Germany, 26 Sep 2008

German police say they boarded a Dutch airliner at the Cologne airport early Friday and arrested two men suspected of planning to carry out terrorist attacks.

Authorities identified the suspects as a 23-year-old Somali and a 24-year-old German citizen of Somali origin.  

A police spokesman said notes indicating that the men were ready to die in a holy war had been found in their apartments and that they had been under police surveillance for several months.

However, police authorities say they do not think the men intended to hijack the Amsterdam-bound KLM plane.

A KLM spokesman says all the passengers had to exit the plane to be matched with their luggage.

The plane eventually flew to Amsterdam without any further incidents.

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