Posted on 10/13/16
| News Source: ABC News
Relief about the capture of a young Syrian suspected of preparing a bomb attack in Germany this week gave way to frustration after he strangled himself in his jail cell, dashing authorities' hopes of gaining intelligence about the man's alleged links to the Islamic State group.
Jaber Albakr's apparently self-inflicted death late Wednesday has likely deprived authorities of a key source of information about what extremist groups might be planning in Germany, which has so far been spared the kind of mass-casualty attacks seen in neighboring France.
The 22-year-old's suicide with a T-shirt also put a glaring spotlight on law enforcement failures in the eastern state of Saxony, where Albakr had evaded arrest for two days until a trio of fellow Syrians tied him up and turned him in.
"What happened last night demands swift and comprehensive investigation by the justice authorities," Germany's top security official, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, said Thursday. "What's more, it makes the investigation into possible masterminds and other accomplices harder."
Authorities suspected Albakr of planning to use home-made explosives to carry out an attack on one of Berlin's two airports this week. Following his arrest early Monday, officials said they were investigating possible links to IS.
The group already has claimed responsibility for....read more at ABC News