A new suspect in the terrorist attack that claimed a dozen lives at a Berlin Christmas market was under covert surveillance for several months this year, according to German authorities, and is now the focus of a continental manhunt launched Wednesday.
Twenty-four-year-old Anis Amri, a Tunisian chameleon who has used multiple identities and has ties to Islamic extremists, was considered a threat and targeted for investigation in March. According to the Associated Press, a tip from federal security forces indicated that Amri was possibly planning a break-in to finance the purchase of automatic weapons to be used in an attack.
Later, his application for asylum in Germany was rejected in July. Authorities prepared to deport him but were unable to do so because Amri lacked valid identity papers, the interior minister of the western German state North Rhine-Westphalia told the AP.
The observation of Amri was called off in September after evidence validating the original warning failed to surface. But according to the interior minister, “security agencies exchanged information about this person in the joint counter-terrorism center [as recently as] November.”
A German lawmaker quoted Frank as saying that Amri was a “solid lead”—his wallet was found in the cab of the truck used in the attack—but was not confirmed as the perpetrator.
