Prosecutors: Man planned shooting attack on Israeli embassy in Berlin

Berlin, Oct 20, (dpa/GNA) – A Libyan man, being held by German police, for allegedly plotting an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin, was planning to use firearms in his assault, prosecutors said.

The man with suspected ties to the terrorist group, Islamic State (IS), was detained in a raid by a heavily armed police unit in a Berlin suburb on Saturday, but law enforcement agencies said nothing about how the suspect planned to carry out the attack.

More information was revealed by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, in the western German city of Karlsruhe on Sunday.

The suspect, who has been named only as Omar A, in line with Germany’s strict privacy laws, was set to be brought before the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe later in the day. A judge will decide whether the suspect should be held in custody during the investigation.

The prosecutor’s office said the Libyan national, had intended to carry out “a high-profile attack with firearms on the Israeli embassy in Berlin.”

“To plan the attack, the suspect exchanged information with an IS member in a messenger chat,” the statement continued.

GNA