Tunisian suspect in Berlin attack is ‘failed asylum seeker radicalised by ISIS mastermind’
INVESTIGATORS have named Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri as the suspect in connection with the Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people and left 48 injured.
German police have obtained a European arrest warrant for the 24-year-old and placed a £84,000 bounty on his head, Associated Press confirmed.
He has reportedly been using six different aliases and is considered “armed and dangerous”.
According to several media outlets, police found ID documents in his name under the seat of truck used in the Berlin Christmas market attack.
The 23-year-old suspect is a refugee whose application for asylum was turned down by German authorities in June.
But a wrangle with Tunisia over his passport saw him remain in the country for several months longer, the .
Paperwork finalising the extradition only arrived today, it has been revealed.
He has been living in Berlin since February and was regarded by the security services as a “danger” to the public.
Amri is thought to be a follower of the conservative Salafist branch of Islam.
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Ralf Jager said: “This person attracted the attention of various security agencies in Germany because of contacts to a radical Islamist milieu.”
Tunisia initially denied that he was a Tunisian citizen, but documents confirmed today that he was.
Amri is reported to have links with a hate preacher named Ahmad Abdelazziz A., also known as Abu Walaa, who was arrested in Hildesheim last month for recruiting radicals into the ranks of ISIS.
The preacher is alleged to have given sermons encouraging people to travel to Syria to fight.
Tunisian Amri, who apparently turns 24 tomorrow, was known to police over an assault allegation but is thought to have gone underground before charges were pressed.
He was arrested in August and found to be in possession of a fake Italian passport, after which his phone was monitored until he disappeared earlier this month.
Born in the desert town of Tataouine on Tunisia's border with Libya, the suspect is believed to have undergone weapons training abroad.
He had moved to Germany in July and was granted temporary asylum after an initial bid for permanent residency was rejected.
The revelation is likely to raise serious questions about the German authorities' surveillance of Amri.
Conservative voices are already ramping up pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Lawmaker Stephan Mayer sniped: "There is clearly a connection between the refugee crisis and the elevated terror danger in Germany.
“The identity of this Tunisian also underlines this, since he clearly entered Germany through Italy in the context of the refugee crisis.”
Cops had earlier botched their hunt for the terrorist behind the attack by arresting a man who had accidentally jumped a red light.
The innocent Pakistani refugee was taken into custody after being singled out for the minor traffic offence a mile down the road from the atrocity.
He was released from custody last night when cops found no blood or gun residue on him.
And today as sheepish police conceded they have given the real killer an 18-hour head-start, they admitted: "We cried hurrah too quickly."
A huge hunt was under way last night for the truck terrorist who killed 12 people at a Christmas market on Monday night.
Investigators say they have around 500 pieces of evidence to examine including mobile GPS and DNA samples.
The lorry mounted the pavement, crashing through market stalls before coming out onto the road the other side, when the driver made his escape
Last night ISIS claimed responsibility for the outrage — which came amid growing concerns about Germany’s two main spy agencies.
ISIS social media accounts yesterday crowed about the carnage. The terror group’s news agency hailed the attacker as “a soldier” of ISIS.
The horror came just weeks after an official ISIS magazine set out how vehicles could be used to cause mass atrocities across Europe.
The article in November’s issue of Rumiyah began by praising July’s Bastille Day attack in Nice, France — where a crazed trucker killed 86 and injured 434.
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It said vehicles were “one of the safest and easiest weapons” and “the most successful in harvesting large numbers” of victims. Chillingly, it recommended jihadis use a “large load-bearing truck” for attacks — and picked out “outdoor markets” as ideal targets.
But the Berlin attacker appeared to have ignored the magazine’s final advice to become a martyr in a shoot-out with security forces.
Twenty-five shoppers and stallholders remained in hospital last night.
Fourteen of them were critically injured and Germany’s interior minister, Thomas de Maizière said some might not pull through.
A further 24 casualties had been treated and released.
It careered up to 80ft before stopping, ripping through stalls and tossing victims aside like dolls.
The news that the suspect is a refugee who had sought asylum has put fresh pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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