German bomb plot suspect kills self in Saxony prison cell
BERLIN (AP) — A 22-year-old Syrian man arrested in Germany for a suspected Islamic extremist bomb plot killed himself in a prison cell in Leipzig, the Saxony state Justice Ministry said.
The ministry refused to give further details but planned a news conference Thursday morning, said ministry spokesman Joerg Herold.
Herold told The Associated Press that Jaber Albakr killed himself sometime Wednesday evening, and that the incident was being investigated. A hearse was seen leaving the prison early Thursday.
Herold would not confirm widespread German media reports that Albakr had hanged himself.
Saxony state authorities were already facing criticism after Albakr eluded police as they prepared to raid an apartment where he had been staying in the city of Chemnitz on Saturday. Inside the apartment police found highly volatile explosives and a homemade bomb vest.
Albakr, who had been granted asylum after coming to Germany last year, was finally arrested Monday in Leipzig after three fellow Syrians tied him up and alerted police.
He had been granted asylum after coming to Germany last year, and had been under surveillance by German domestic intelligence since last month.
Earlier Wednesday, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that Albakr had undergone a security check last year, but it did not turn up anything suspicious.
“There was a check against security authorities’ data in 2015, but without any hits,” he said. “It’s not clear when he was radicalized.”
German authorities have said they believe he had links to the Islamic State group and was thought to be planning to attack a Berlin airport, possibly as soon as this week.
The three Syrians who captured the suspect had been granted asylum, and their “behavior deserves praise and recognition,” de Maiziere said.
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