Germany detains man suspected of planning terror attack
August 22, 2018
Russian national Magomed-Ali C. was arrested at an apartment in Berlin on suspicion of planning a "serious act of violence against the state," Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.
The 31-year-old is an alleged accomplice of Clement B., who was detained on terror charges in the French city of Marseille last year.
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At the time of his capture, Clement B., 22, was in possession of several firearms and 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of highly explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP). The prosecutor said French investigations suggested he had previously been working with Magomed-Ali C. to plan an attack at an unknown location in Germany "in order to kill and injure as many people as possible."
Their preparations were interrupted by a police operation in October 2016, prompting the pair to separate, with the Russian man staying in Germany and Clement B. traveling to France.
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No current threat
A security source cited by the dpa press agency said that the 31-year-old was known to police but was not thought to pose an immediate threat.
The prosecutor said the man was a "radical Islamist," who allegedly stored a significant amount of explosives in his Berlin apartment in October 2016. The arrest and search of the suspect's apartment also served to determine the current location of the explosives, authorities added.
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TATP, an unstable explosive, has been used in several attacks in Europe, including at a concert in Manchester, Britain in May of last year, in Brussels in 2016 and in Paris in 2015.
The suspect is expected to appear in federal court on Thursday. Prosecutors said they will request he stay in custody.
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Editor's note: Deutsche Welle follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.
nm/sms (AFP, dpa)