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| Europe | |
| Germany: Iranian Man suspected of planning 'serious act of violence' UPDATED | |
| 2023-01-08 | |
| [DW] Police and prosecutors suspect an Iranian national of preparing an "Islamist-motivated attack" using ricin and cyanide. It has not yet been decided whether he will be brought before a magistrate. Why would he not be tried fair and hung high? They didn’t report he has diplomatic immunity, after all. A 32-year-old man has been taken into police custody in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia for allegedly preparing an "Islamist-motivated attack," police and prosecutors said in a joint statement on Sunday.The man, identified as an Iranian, was "suspected of having prepared a serious act of violence that endangers the state by procuring cyanide and ricin to commit an Islamist-motivated attack." Ricin is a highly toxic biological weapon. RESIDENCE SEARCHED FOR 'TOXIC SUBSTANCES' According to a blurb issued by Munster police, Recklinghausen police and the Dusseldorf prosecutor's office, a residence in the town of Castrop-Rauxel in the Ruhr region was searched for "toxic substances." An area around the suspect's residence was cordoned off as police and rescue workers were deployed to the site. The Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) news agency reported that numerous emergency workers wore protective suits as they were deployed at the site. Investigators said, "The search serves to find corresponding toxins and other evidence." Investigators said that another person was arrested during the operation and taken into custody. It has not yet been decided whether the 32-year-old will be brought before a magistrate.
Police seized electronic storage devices but found neither cyanide nor ricin during the search, Holger Heming of the Duesseldorf public prosecutor’s office told Reuters TV. Heming said the tip came from a security agency of a “friendly state”, without elaborating. Mass tabloid Bild said the agency in question was the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Police said a second individual was detained as part of the searches. Heming confirmed the person to be the suspect’s brother. According to German domestic intelligence services, the number of members or supporters of Islamist causes has shrunk by 1.5% to 28,290 individuals in 2021, citing the “military breakup” of the militant Islamic State group. Dpa cited an unidentified German security official as saying there was no indication the suspect had acted on behalf of the Iranian state, but rather that he allegedly supported a Sunni extremist group. Sunnis are a religious minority in Iran. A tip-off from US security officials prompted police in Germany to arrest two Iranian brothers suspected of planning an Islamist-motivated bio-weapon attack, prosecutors said on Sunday. The brothers, aged 32 and 25, were taken into custody overnight in the town of Castrop-Rauxel, north-west of Dortmund, for allegedly planning an attack using cyanide and ricin with the intent of killing "an unspecified number of people," prosecutors said. The suspicion had initially been directed at the 32-year-old, according to a spokesman for the Dusseldorf prosecutor general's office. The younger brother, who was staying at the flat, was also detained as authorities quickly looked into his involvement in the alleged plot. It was not revealed by investigators how far along their plans were or the intended targets. Moreover, police failed to uncover any toxins during their search of the residence in Castrop-Rauxel on Sunday. The two men were lightly clothed as they were led away in early hours of Sunday, with just a jacket thrown over them against the winter cold, witnesses said. They did not offer any resistance. Bild’s video report shows one of the Iranians being hauled off by police overnight in just boxer shorts and a jacket, claiming he is associated with the Islamic State. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 If someone with better German would listen to the Bild video report I just added to the bottom of the article — I think the reporter said Islamic State, but I would prefer confirmation/correction from someone with better understanding of the language. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2023-01-08 16:50 |
| #3 And there's this, closer to home: Media Blackout Over Terror Incident At Vegas Power Plant |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2023-01-08 11:07 |
| #2 "Iranian" added to title to clarify |
| Posted by: Frank G 2023-01-08 10:47 |
| #1 NY Post version |
| Posted by: Frank G 2023-01-08 06:49 |