Dutch drop case against 3 suspected of attack plan

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch prosecutors said they had closed a case against three men arrested on New Year's Eve on suspicion of planning an imminent attack, because there was no evidence against them.

"The public prosecutors have not been able to find any evidence," a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Police arrested the three men after the intelligence service said it was possible the suspects -- two Moroccans and one Sudanese, aged 31, 32 and 39 -- were about to carry out an unspecified act of violence.

The suspects have the right to compensation for the time they spent in detention, the spokeswoman said. They were arrested on New Year's Eve and their detention was extended for 14 days on January 3.

In 2004 the Netherlands was shaken by the murder of filmmaker and Islam critic Theo van Gogh by a Dutch-Moroccan. Several other Muslim militants have since been found guilty of planning attacks on politicians and government buildings.

(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde, editing by Tim Pearce)