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A8 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 22 december 2016
Germany had monitored Berlin truck attack suspect for months

FRANK JORDANS a 100,000-euro ($105,000) living mostly in Berlin, said
Associated Press reward for his arrest. Jaeger.
BERLIN (AP) — German of- Within hours it emerged Within months of his arriv-
ficials had deemed the that the man authorities al, authorities had added
Tunisian man being sought warned could be “violent Amri to a growing list of
in a manhunt across Eu- and armed” had in fact potentially violent Islamic
rope a threat long be- been known to them for extremists, not all of them
fore a truck plowed into a months as someone with asylum-seekers.
Christmas market in Berlin ties to Islamic extremists “Security agencies ex-
— and even kept him un- who used at least six differ- changed information
der covert surveillance for ent names and three differ- about this person in the
six months this year before ent nationalities. joint counter-terrorism cen-
halting the operation. “People are rightly out- ter, the last time in Novem-
Now the international raged and anxious that ber,” said Jaeger.
manhunt for Anis Amri — such a person can walk State prosecutors in Berlin
considered the prime sus- around here, keep chang- even launched an inves-
pect in Monday’s deadly ing his identity and the le- tigation of Amri on March
rampage — is raising ques- gal system can’t cope with 14 following a tip from fed-
tions about how closely them,” said Rainer Wendt, eral security agencies, who
German authorities are the head of a union repre- warned that he might be
monitoring the hundreds of senting German police. planning a break-in to fi-
known Islamic extremists in Authorities had initially fo- nance the purchase of au-
the country. cused their investigation on tomatic weapons for use in
The issue puts new pres- a Pakistani man detained a possible future attack.
sure on Chancellor Angela shortly after the attack, but Surveillance showed that
Merkel, who is running for released him a day later Amri did deal drugs in a no-
re-election next year. Crit- for lack of evidence. Af- torious Berlin park and was
ics are lambasting her for ter finding documents be- involved in a bar brawl, but
allowing hundreds of thou- longing to Amri in the cab no evidence was found to
sands of asylum-seekers to of the truck, they issued a substantiate the original
enter the country, alleged- notice to other European warning.
ly without proper security countries early Wednesday The surveillance measures
checks. The wanted photo issued by German federal police on Wednes- seeking his arrest. were called off in Septem-
Among them was Amri, a day, Dec. 21, 2016 shows 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri who is According to Ralf Jaeger, ber, by which time Amri
convicted criminal in both suspected of being involved in the fatal attack on the Christmas the interior minister of North had disappeared from his
Tunisia and Italy with little market in Berlin on Dec. 19, 2016. German authorities are offer- Rhine-Westphalia state, regular haunts in Berlin,
chance of getting asylum ing a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($105,000) for the arrest of Amri arrived in Germany prosecutors said.
the Tunisian.
who successfully evaded (German police via AP) in July 2015 as the influx of Separately, Amri’s asylum
deportation from Germany asylum-seekers was near- application was rejected
even as German authori- tack that left 12 people After German media pub- ing its peak. in July. German authorities
ties rejected his asylum ap- dead and 48 injured Mon- lished photos of him and Although registered in the prepared to deport him
plication and deemed the day evening in Berlin. a partial name, federal west of the country, near but weren’t able to do so
24-year-old a possible ji- Health officials said 12 of prosecutors issued a pub- the Dutch border, Amri had because he didn’t have
hadi threat. the injured had very serious lic appeal for information moved around Germany valid identity papers, Jae-
He is suspected in the at- wounds. along with the promise of regularly since February, ger said.q
Turkey links Russian envoy’s killer to US-based cleric Gulen

Associated Press was killed Monday eve- hiding this,” President Re- top foe — of trying to de- The government however,
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Tur- ning by a gunman in front cep Tayyip Erdogan said stabilize Turkey and says has labeled the movement
key’s president on Wednes- of stunned onlookers at during a joint news confer- his movement is behind a “the FETO terror organi-
day implicated a U.S.- a photo exhibition in An- ence with his visiting Alba- failed military coup in July zation” and has cracked
based Muslim cleric in the kara. The assassin, Mevlut nian counterpart. “From aimed at toppling the Turk- down on Gulen’s followers,
killing of Russia’s envoy to Mert Altintas of Ankara’s the places he was raised ish leader. Gulen has de- arresting tens of thousands
Turkey, saying the police- riot police squad, was killed to his connections — that’s nied any involvement in of people for their alleged
man who carried out the in a police operation. “He what they point at.” Tur- the coup. His movement link to the coup and purg-
attack was a member of his (Altintas) was a member key has accused Fethullah also condemned “in the ing more than 100,000 sus-
“terror organization.” of the FETO terrorist organi- Gulen — a former ally who strongest terms” the am- pected supporters from
Ambassador Andrei Karlov zation. There is no point in has turned into Erdogan’s bassador’s assassination. government jobs.q