German police capture Syrian bomb plot suspect after manhunt

October 10, 2016

German police have arrested a Syrian man who is suspected of planning a bomb attack and had eluded capture for two days.

Jaber Albakr, a 22-year-old refugee who had come to Germany last year, was detained overnight in the eastern city of Leipzig, police said.

“Tired but overjoyed,” police in the state of Saxony said.

Since escaping a first raid on his flat two days ago, Albakr had been the subject of a nationwide manhunt which also caused authorities to step up security at airports and other sensitive sites.

In Sunday night’s operation, police were reportedly tipped off by another Syrian in Leipzig. According to Spiegel online, Albakr approached the man at the city’s railway station, asking if he could sleep at his place. The man agreed, and later called police.

German media have reported that Albakr is believed to be connected to Islamic extremist groups.A spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office told broadcaster SWR: “The overall picture of the investigation, in particular the amount of the explosive found, suggests that the person was planning to carry out an Islamist-motivated attack.”

Germany authorities said Albakr, who is originally from Damascus, had come to Germany in the flood of 890,000 migrants who entered the country in 2015 and had been granted asylum. The suspicion that a refugee was planning a bomb attack will pile further pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose open-door migration policy has been fiercely criticised.