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Berlin police detain Anis Amri contact on fraud charges

Authorities have detained a 26-year-old who had dinner with Anis Amri the night before the Berlin Christmas market attack. But officials said they could not charge him with complicity, citing insufficient evidence.


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Christmas market truck attack: Tunisian man detained

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Investigators have raided the homes of two suspected associates of Anis Amri, the man linked to last month's deadly Christmas market attack in Berlin. Officials declined to confirm whether the men have been detained.



A spokeswoman for the office of Germany's chief prosecutor on Wednesday said authorities have taken a second Tunisian suspect into custody following raids in Berlin on Tuesday.
A warrant has been issued by the justice ministry for the Tunisian suspect, who had been in contact with Anis Amri, the prime suspectin December's Christmas market attack, the night before it occured.
"This contact person is a 26-year-old Tunisian. We are investigating him for possible participating in the attack," spokeswoman Frauke Köhler told reporters, adding that prosecutors suspected he may have known about Amri's plan.
However, she added that there was insufficient evidence to charge the suspect. In a separate statement, the federal prosecutor's office announced the man had been charged with committing social welfare fraud and would remain in custody.
The 26-year-old suspect allegedly had dinner with Amri at a restaurant the night before the attack, according to Köhler. The suspect allegedly met Amri in late 2015.
The spokeswoman noted that electronic communication devices discovered during the raid had been seized, and that authorities are in the process of evaluating content found on them.
On Tuesday, German police raided a refugee shelter and flat in Berlin in connection with the Christmas market attack.
Meanwhile, Italian police confirmed on Wednesday that a gun used to kill the Polish driver of the truck used in the Christmas market attacked was the same as one used in a shootout with police in Milan.
On the same day, Swiss authorities announced they were launching criminal proceedings related to the Berlin attacks. Without providing specifics, the prosecutors said they were looking into a possible violation of Switzerland's ban on "Islamic State" and Al-Qaeda, as well as support of a criminal organization.
Prosecutors: Suspect gestured to camera
Authorities say Amri, a Tunisian who had his asylum application rejected, drove a large truck through a Christmas market in Berlin on December 19, leaving 12 dead and dozens more injured. He was killed in a shootout with police in Italy after a Europe-wide manhunt for the assailant.
Köhler added that prosecutors believe Armi was filmed by surveillance cameras raising his finger in an apparent gesture used by supporters of the "Islamic State" militant group after fleeing the scene of the terrorist attack. She said that he appeared to be aware that he was being filmed.
Shortly after the attack, the "Islamic State" militant group claimed responsibility for the Christmas market attack, claiming that Amri was "targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition."
Germany is a member of the US-led coalition launching airstrikes against the militant group in Iraq and Syria.
Infografik Anis Amri Aktualisierung nach Tötung in Mailand ENGLISCH
Terror threat
In a New Year's Eve address, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described terrorism as the greatest challenge facing the country following several attacks committed in 2015.
"Without a doubt, the most difficult test we've faced is Islamist terrorism, which has also had us Germans in its crosshairs for many years," she added.
Meanwhile, police in Saarland arrested a Syrian suspect on Sunday for planning an attack involving disguised police patrol cars filled with hundreds of kilograms of explosives.
The suspect claimed he was attempting to defraud the "Islamic State" after investigators discovered messages on his mobile phone.
  • Syrien IS Kämpfer in Raqqa (picture-alliance/AP Photo)

    WHAT IS THE 'ISLAMIC STATE'?

    Where did IS come from?

    Islamic State (IS) - also known as ISIL, ISIS and Daesh - is an al Qaeda splinter group with militant Sunni Islamist idealogy. It emerged in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The group's goal is to create an Islamic state, or "caliphate", across Iraq, Syria and beyond.

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ls/se (AFP, dpa, AP

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