Tunisian man sought in Berlin Christmas market truck attack
A man arrested soon after the massacre was released on Tuesday for lack of evidence
German authorities have launched a Europe-wide search for a Tunisian man with ties to Islamic extremists who has been identified as a suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack, lawmakers said Wednesday.
A German security official said authorities had considered him a possible terror threat previously and had been trying to deport him after his asylum application was rejected this summer.
The man is being sought in Germany and across Europe's border-free travel zone, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after briefing Parliament's domestic affairs committee. He stressed "this is a suspect, not necessarily the perpetrator. We are still investigating in all directions."
Twelve people were killed and 48 others injured when a truck plowed into a popular Berlin market Monday evening. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility. Twelve of the wounded are still being treated for serious injuries and some are in critical condition, Berlin health officials said Wednesday.
De Maiziere wouldn't give details on the new suspect, but committee members said he's believed to be Tunisian.
The man is in his early 20s and apparently has used various identities, said Stephan Mayer, a senior lawmaker with Germany's governing conservatives. He said the man was considered part of the "Salafist-Islamist scene" by authorities.
A wanted poster says he should be considered armed and dangerous.
The notice, a European arrest warrant from Germany obtained by The Associated Press, indicates he has at times used six different aliases and three different nationalities.
It names Anis Amri as having Tunisian citizenship, born in the town of Ghaza. But it lists multiple aliases, many of them variants on his name, and Egyptian and Lebanese citizenship as well.
A $140,000 award has been issued for information that leads to an arrest.
'A solid lead'
Germany's chief federal prosecutor told lawmakers that "this Tunisian is a solid lead, his wallet was found in the cab of the truck, but that it's not clear that he was also the perpetrator," said Burkhard Lischka of the Social Democrats, the junior governing party.
The new suspect apparently arrived in Germany in 2015 and lived in three German regions since February, mostly in Berlin, said Ralf Jaeger, the interior minister of western North Rhine-Westphalia state.
Jaeger said that "security agencies exchanged information about this person in the joint counterterrorism centre, the last time in November."
Jaeger told reporters on Wednesday that state police had launched proceedings against the man on suspicion that he was preparing a serious crime.
State prosecutors in Berlin told The Associated Press that they launched an investigation of Amri on March 14 following a tip from federal security agencies.
The tip warned that Amri might be planning a break-in to finance the purchase of automatic weapons for use in an attack. Surveillance showed that Amri was involved in drug dealing in a Berlin park and involved in a bar brawl, but found no evidence to substantiate the original warning.
The observation was called off in September, by which time Amri had disappeared from his regular haunts in Berlin, prosecutors said.
Previous convictions in Italy, Tunisia
Separately, the man's asylum application was rejected in July. German authorities detained him in preparation to deport him but weren't able to do so because he didn't have valid identity papers, Jaeger said, and in August they started trying to get him a replacement passport.
"Tunisia at first denied that this person was its citizen, and the papers weren't issued for a long time," Jaeger said. "They arrived today."
Tunisia's Mosaique FM radio reports the man being sought by Germany had previous convictions in Italy and his home country.
Mosaique FM quoted Anis Amri's father saying that his son left Tunisia about seven years ago and spent four years in a prison in Italy after being accused in a fire at a school.
He then moved to Germany more than a year ago. The father did not provide details and said he had no contact with his son, although his brothers did.
Mosaique FM quoted Tunisian security officials as saying that Amri was also convicted in absentia for aggravated theft with violence and sentenced to five years in prison.
Not intimidated
Germany's top prosecutor, Peter Frank, told reporters before the ISIS claim that the attack was reminiscent of the Nice rampage and appeared to follow instructions published by ISIS. He also said it wasn't clear whether there was one perpetrator or several.
Christmas shoppers were out again in the streets Wednesday in the German capital, and Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller said it was "good to see that Berliners aren't being intimidated."
"I don't think there's any need to be afraid," he told ZDF television. "The police presence has been significantly heightened ... and of course other measures taken to find the perpetrator quickly."
Mueller argued that there are limits to increasing security, given the number of public spaces and events.
"It wouldn't be our free and open life any more if we escalated security measures so much that people worry about going anywhere, that there are strict entry checks," he said. "We don't want that. It must be appropriate and goal-oriented."