LEIPZIG, Germany: A Syrian man suspected of plotting an Daesh bomb attack was arrested Monday by German police with the help of three of his compatriots, in a case that sparked fresh calls for greater checks on asylum seekers.
Jaber Albakr, 22, had narrowly slipped through the police net Saturday when commandos raided his apartment and found 1.5 kilos of TATP, the homemade explosive used by jihadists in the Paris and Brussels attacks last year.
The explosives were “almost ready, or even ready for usage,” said Joerg Michaelis, chief investigator in the eastern state of Saxony, adding that the suspect was apparently preparing a “bomb, possibly in the form of a suicide vest.”
After a manhunt over the weekend, police finally got their man with the help of three of Albakr’s fellow Syrians, who had detained him in their apartment in the eastern city of Leipzig.
“A witness came to the police station and said he had recognized Albakr... and had a photo of Albakr on his mobile phone,” said Michaelis.
“He also said that his flatmates have overpowered Albakr and tied him up, and that we should come to his apartment.”
Police declined to give further details on the Syrian informants for fear of reprisals against them.
German media reported that the fugitive had approached two Syrians at the main train station in Leipzig, seeking shelter.
The men had invited Albakr to their apartment, but later realized that their guest was being sought when police broadcast an appeal for help in Arabic, the Bild newspaper said.
When police finally stormed the apartment, the officers found one of the Syrians kneeling on Albakr to hold him down, said Bild.
Acting on information from the domestic secret services, investigators had sought to swoop on Albakr on Saturday in the eastern town of Chemnitz, about 85 kilometers (50 miles) south of Leipzig.
But he narrowly evaded police and ran off carrying a backpack, local media said.
Preliminary investigations suggest that Albakr was probably linked to the Daesh group, investigators said.
“The approach and behavior of the suspect point to a Daesh context,” said Michaelis.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the plot “resembles what we know of the preparations for the attacks in Paris and Brussels.”
A police vehicle and a vehicle of the criminal technology park in front of the access to an house in the district of Paunsdorf in Leipzig, eastern Germany on Monday. (AFP)
