Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Terror suspect extradited from Austria

A German man arrested on suspicion of recruiting for a terror group mounting attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan was extradited from Austria Monday, federal prosecutors said.

Published: 20 June 2011 17:31 CEST
Terror suspect extradited from Austria
Photo: DPA

The German federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the suspect identified only as Yusuf O. was arrested in Austria on May 31 on a German warrant.

Prosecutors say the 26-year-old travelled to the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan from Germany in May 2009 and joined the “foreign terrorist organisation” German Taliban Mujahideen (DTM) in September of that year.

He allegedly trained in using explosives and firearms “and took part in jihad for the DTM,” which plots attacks against government troops in the region as well as the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, the statement said.

“In addition he is accused of appearing in propaganda videos for the terrorist organisation,” it said.

From early 2011, Yusuf O. is believed to have begun seeking new recruits for the DTM in Europe.

Austrian police arrested four terror suspects last week including a 25-year-old Austrian convert to Islam suspected of recruiting for terror training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan and financing the DTM.

He is believed to have been in contact with Yusuf O., according to Austrian authorities.

The three other suspects, who were arrested at Vienna airport apparently on their way to a terrorist training camp in Pakistan, were released but the alleged Austrian recruiter remains in custody.

The daily Kronen Zeitung reported Saturday that the Austrian suspect, identified as Thomas al-J., was plotting to crash a plane into the Bundestag parliament building in Berlin and had been training on a flight simulator.

Neither Austrian nor German authorities have confirmed the report.

AFP/mdm

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Published: 5 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

SHOW COMMENTS