Berlin, Oct 20, (dpa/GNA) – German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, said Sunday that protecting Israeli institutions is a top security priority for the country, after police took a man into custody, who was allegedly planning a terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin.
A Libyan man with suspected ties to the terrorist group, Islamic State, was detained in a Berlin suburb on Saturday, authorities said.
He is expected to be soon brought before the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, where a judge will decide whether the suspect should be held in custody during the investigation.
“According to what we know, the man detained was targeting the Israeli embassy in Berlin,” Buschmann told dpa.
“The protection of Israeli institutions in Germany is particularly important in these times, when fanatical hatred of Israel and anti-Semitism are gaining ground worldwide, and Islamist terrorism is constantly finding new supporters,” Buschmann added.
He said law enforcement agencies would continue to “do everything in their power, to ensure that the dangerous plans of those who hate Israel and anti-Semites do not come to fruition.”
Authorities have said little so far about the man’s alleged plans.
Germany’s Bild newspaper reported that police acted, after receiving a tip off from an unspecified foreign intelligence agency.
A heavily armed elite police unit stormed the suspect’s flat in the Berlin suburb of Bernau, and police also raided a flat in the western German town of Sankt Augustin, in connection with the case, the newspaper reported.
GNA