Manhunt for Berlin suspect intensifies as anger grows

AFP, BERLIN: German authorities came under fire Thursday after it emerged that the prime suspect in Berlin’s deadly truck attack, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker, was known as a potentially dangerous jihadist.
Prosecutors have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Anis Amri, offering a 100,000-euro ($104,000) reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he “could be violent and armed”.
A temporary residence permit believed to belong to Amri, alleged to have links to the radical Islamist scene, was found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that rammed through a packed Christmas market in Berlin Monday, killing 11.
The twelfth victim, the hijacked truck’s Polish driver, was found shot in the cab.
Police have searched a refugee centre in Emmerich, western Germany, where Amri stayed a few months ago, as well as two apartments in Berlin.
In a sign of defiance, Berlin was set to reopen the Christmas market at the central Breitscheid square where the articulated truck cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd. Organisers said they would dim the lights and tone down the Christmas music but begin serving mulled wine and open the traditional market huts, as Berliners left a sea of flowers and candles at the site in honour of the victims.
But as the manhunt intensified, questions surfaced about how the suspect had been able to slip through the net, avoiding arrest and deportation despite being on the radar of several security agencies. “The authorities had him in their crosshairs and he still managed to vanish,” said Der Spiegel weekly on its website.
The top-selling daily Bild’s frontpage headline screamed “Deportation Failure!” while local tabloid B.Z. said starkly “They knew him. They did nothing” next to a photo of the heavyset, dark-haired Amri.
Conservative lawmaker Stephan Mayer, a critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s liberal stance on asylum, told public radio that the case “held up a magnifying glass” to the failings of her migration policy. But Armin Laschet, a deputy leader of Merkel’s Christian Democrats, placed the blame with regional security authorities, calling their failure to keep tabs on Amri “shocking”.
The attack, Germany’s deadliest in recent years, has been claimed by the Islamic State group. Among the confirmed dead were six Germans and an Israeli woman. A total of 48 people were injured.
In a revelation likely to stoke public anger, German officials said they had already been investigating Amri, suspecting he was planning an attack.
The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing “a serious act of violence against the state”.
Berlin prosecutors said separately that Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, “possibly to carry out an attack”.
But after keeping watch on him from March until September this year they failed to find evidence of the plot, learning only that Amri was a small-time drug dealer, and the surveillance was stopped.
The New York Times reported, citing US officials, that Amri had done online research on how to make explosive devices and had communicated with IS at least once, via Telegram Messenger. He was also on a US no-fly list.

Manhunt for Berlin suspect intensifies as anger grows

AFP, BERLIN: German authorities came under fire Thursday after it emerged that the prime suspect in Berlins deadly truck attack, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker, was known as a potentially dangerous jihadist. Prosecutors have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for 24-year-old Anis Amri, offering a 100,000-euro ($104,000) reward for information leading to his arrest and warning he could be violent and armed. A temporary residence permit believed to belong to Amri, alleged to have links to the radical Islamist scene, was found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that rammed through a packed Christmas market in Berlin Monday, killing 11. The twelfth victim, the hijacked trucks Polish driver, was found shot in the cab. Police have searched a refugee centre in Emmerich, western Germany, where Amri stayed a few months ago, as well as two apartments in Berlin. In a sign of defiance, Berlin was set to reopen the Christmas market at the central Breitscheid square where the articulated truck cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd. Organisers said they would dim the lights and tone down the Christmas music but begin serving mulled wine and open the traditional market huts, as Berliners left a sea of flowers and candles at the site in honour of the victims. But as the manhunt intensified, questions surfaced about how the suspect had been able to slip through the net, avoiding arrest and deportation despite being on the radar of several security agencies. The authorities had him in their crosshairs and he still managed to vanish, said Der Spiegel weekly on its website. The top-selling daily Bilds frontpage headline screamed Deportation Failure! while local tabloid B.Z. said starkly They knew him. They did nothing next to a photo of the heavyset, dark-haired Amri. Conservative lawmaker Stephan Mayer, a critic of Chancellor Angela Merkels liberal stance on asylum, told public radio that the case held up a magnifying glass to the failings of her migration policy. But Armin Laschet, a deputy leader of Merkels Christian Democrats, placed the blame with regional security authorities, calling their failure to keep tabs on Amri shocking. The attack, Germanys deadliest in recent years, has been claimed by the Islamic State group. Among the confirmed dead were six Germans and an Israeli woman. A total of 48 people were injured. In a revelation likely to stoke public anger, German officials said they had already been investigating Amri, suspecting he was planning an attack. The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about Amri, most recently in November, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing a serious act of violence against the state. Berlin prosecutors said separately that Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, possibly to carry out an attack. But after keeping watch on him from March until September this year they failed to find evidence of the plot, learning only that Amri was a small-time drug dealer, and the surveillance was stopped. The New York Times reported, citing US officials, that Amri had done online research on how to make explosive devices and had communicated with IS at least once, via Telegram Messenger. He was also on a US no-fly list.