Germany arrests Syrian suspected of plotting ‘jihadist’ attack
Interior minister says Germany’s terrorist threat remains heightened, though the suspect’s activities were ‘detected in time’
German authorities said Sunday they had arrested a 22-year-old Syrian man in Berlin suspected of preparing a “jihadist” attack, without giving details of the alleged plot.
The suspect, arrested on Saturday in the capital’s southern Neukoelln district, appeared before an investigating judge on Sunday and was ordered remanded in custody.
He is suspected of “preparing an act of serious violence against the state” as well as “spreading propaganda material of anti-constitutional and terrorist organisations,” said a joint statement from Berlin police and prosecutors.
He was alleged to have plotted “a jihadist-motivated attack”, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Berlin said earlier.
The newspaper Bild reported that a search by special police units of three Berlin residential addresses linked to the suspect had turned up items that could be used to build explosives.