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German police arrest suspected Syrian militant near Berlin
[DW] Police in the German state of Brandenburg have arrested a Syrian man on terror allegations. He is suspected of having been a member of two Islamist rebel groups opposed to the Syrian regime.German authorities on Tuesday arrested a Syrian national suspected of being a member of two turban groups in Syria that are considered as foreign terrorist organizations by the German government. The suspect was arrested by police in the city of Potsdam, the capital of the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds the German capital of Berlin. He faces charges of membership in a terrorist organization, war crimes and weapons violations, prosecutors said in a statement cited by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. From January to August 2013, the man, named only Khaled A. under Germany's privacy laws, is accused of having been a member of Ahrar al-Tabqa, a rebel group that sprang up in the northern town of Tabqa in the early stages of Syria's civil war. He is then believed to have joined a larger Islamist group, Ahrar al-Sham ...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014... , and to have been one of its spokesmen up to at least October 2013. CIVILIAN EVICTIONS According to the German news magazine Focus, the man is suspected of having taken part in fighting armed with a machine gun, thus violating laws on military weaponry. Prosecutors also accuse him of having evicted civilians from their homes in Tabqa to allow fellow fighters to live in them, Focus said. Both groups wanted to oust the regime of Syrian  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Horror of Homs... and put a system based on a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam in its place. Prosecutors did not say whether the suspect entered Germany as one of hundreds of thousands who have sought asylum in the country since 2015. Some other terrorism suspects arrested in Germany have been from this group. Related: Potsdam: 2019-10-20 Merkel says German multiculturalism has failed Potsdam: 2019-07-30 Jewish German spat on for wearing kippah in public Potsdam: 2019-01-17 Human diet causing 'catastrophic' damage to planet: study Related: Brandenburg: 2020-06-17 German police place regional chapter of far-right AfD under surveillance Brandenburg: 2020-04-06 Report: Racist asylum-seeker hostel attackers seldom convicted Brandenburg: 2020-03-10 Coronavirus Roundup: Head of Port Authority Rick Cotton has coronavirus Related: Tabqa: 2019-10-17 US Coalition: Forces have left Raqqa, Tabqah, Lafarge factory Tabqa: 2019-10-17 US carries out airstrike in Syria to destroy ammunition as troops depart Tabqa: 2019-10-17 Syria troops fighting Turkish forces alongside Kurds, says monitor Related: Ahrar al-Sham: 2020-06-21 Unknown gunman shoots dead member of ‘Idlib Free Army’ Ahrar al-Sham: 2020-05-22 Strike suspected to be by the US hit a vehicle carrying ISIS fighters south of Turkish-controlled Afrin Ahrar al-Sham: 2020-05-02 Clashes erupt in al-Bab city over “trucks smuggling” dispute, with flight of Turkish f-16 jet over the area Posted by: trailing wife 2020-08-19 |
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