German Police Arrest Suspect in Alleged Terror Bomb Plot Syrian refugee had explosives in apartment and ‘Islamist motivations’By Zeke Turner
http://www.wsj.com/articles/german-police-arrest-suspect-in-alleged-terror-bomb-plot-1476077420
CHEMNITZ, Germany—Police said early Monday that they had arrested a 22-year-old Syrian refugee suspected of planning a terror attack in Germany, capping a two-day manhunt.
The suspect Jaber Albakr was found by police in Leipzig in the early morning hours following a call from Syrians living in the city, Saxony’s state police wrote online.
Suspected of planning an attack with explosives and on the run from police, Mr. Albakr “was captured in an apartment in Leipzig” by the other Syrians, the police wrote on Facebook.
“We are tired, but overjoyed,” Saxony’s state police announced on Twitter after the arrest of Jaber Albakr. Mr. Albakr first eluded capture Saturday during a police raid on his apartment here in Chemnitz, a small city closer to the Czech border. Leipzig, a transportation hub offering extensive rail connections and flights into Turkey, is about an hour’s drive away.
The manhunt began Friday evening when German domestic intelligence agency tipped off Saxony authorities about an alleged plot. That led to a raid at his apartment by special police commandos. Police said they found “several hundred grams” of highly explosive materials in the man’s apartment.
“Based on the amount of explosives found in the apartment, it is relatively clear that this is a culprit with Islamist motivations who wanted to carry out an attack,” said a spokesman for Germany’s federal prosecutor-general, which took over the investigation from state authorities Sunday night.
A person familiar with the investigation said Mr. Albakr arrived in Germany as a refugee and had been granted asylum. ARD public television said he had arrived a year ago.
The manhunt took place in multiple locations and led to several related arrests.
On Sunday afternoon, police raided a second apartment in Chemnitz and detained a fourth person who police said had been in contact with Mr. Albakr. CONTINUE AT SITE
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