Under suspicion of terrorism
Attack on Christmas market planned: Germany deports Iraqis
Police officers secure a Christmas market (symbolic image)
© Kohls / SDMG / DPA
Germany has sent a 20-year-old back to his home country because of plans to attack Christmas markets. But even after the deportation, the situation remains tense.
An Iraqi suspected of terrorism is out Germany was deported to his home country. The 20-year-old man had to leave the Federal Republic on Friday evening because he had planned a “serious act of violence”, the interior ministries of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony announced on Saturday. The deportation is associated with an indefinite entry and residence ban.
According to media reports, the man is an Islamist who is said to have planned an attack on a Christmas market. He was arrested in November.
The ministries announced that the prerequisite for the deportation order that has now been issued is “to avert a particular threat to the security of the Federal Republic of Germany or a terrorist threat.” Saxony-Anhalt’s Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang (CDU) said with regard to the deportee that thanks to the “high vigilance of the security authorities” “attack plans were thwarted.”
Despite deportation: “The threat situation remains tense”
Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD) said that it had been possible to “avert a serious threat to our citizens and promptly deport the Iraqi to his country of origin.” She added: “The general threat situation remains tense.”
According to the ministries, the 20-year-old lived in Saxony-Anhalt and worked in Lower Saxony. He is said to be the man who was arrested in Lower Saxony on November 21st due to a “dangerous situation”. According to the authorities, he is said to have announced that he wanted to carry out “attacks in conjunction with major events during the Christmas season”.