The plot involved three men, including a 24-year-old ringleader who had been influenced by the ideology of the so-called Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(IS) group, according to the APA news agency.
The main suspect is thought to have hatched a plot to target the Christmas market in front of St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna city center between Christmas and New Year.
Other possible targets are said to have included Salzburg and locations in Germany, La Belle France and Luxembourg.
An anonymous tip-off led to the ringleader, who was already in jail following two attempts to reach Syria and join IS.
However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
the report said he was able to remain in contact with his alleged accomplices via mobile phone -- contrary to prison regulations.
Part of the plot was a plan to help the ringleader escape.
The two other suspects, aged 25 and 31, were taken into custody at the end of last week. All three men are ethnic Chechens.
While Austria has been spared the major terror attacks that have hit other Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an countries including La Belle France, Britannia and Germany in recent years, a relatively high number of Austrians have gone abroad to participate in Islamic extremism.