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| Terror Raids in Germany Reap More Doubts Than Results | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| BERLIN — Cloaked in body armor and bearing heavy weapons, more than 1,000 German police officers swooped down Wednesday on homes, offices and mosques in shock-and-awe raids centered on Germany’s financial capital, Frankfurt. Nationwide, more than 50 sites were targeted. | BERLIN — Cloaked in body armor and bearing heavy weapons, more than 1,000 German police officers swooped down Wednesday on homes, offices and mosques in shock-and-awe raids centered on Germany’s financial capital, Frankfurt. Nationwide, more than 50 sites were targeted. |
| For Germany’s security apparatus, the raid was intended as a high-profile demonstration of official resolve to counter terrorism. Yet the modest yield — just one arrest and 15 placed under investigation and released — muted any chest thumping. | For Germany’s security apparatus, the raid was intended as a high-profile demonstration of official resolve to counter terrorism. Yet the modest yield — just one arrest and 15 placed under investigation and released — muted any chest thumping. |
| More disconcerting still, the man arrested, a 36-year-old Tunisian believed to be plotting an attack in Germany, was known to the authorities as a suspect in a horrific 2015 assault on a national museum in the Tunisian capital. | More disconcerting still, the man arrested, a 36-year-old Tunisian believed to be plotting an attack in Germany, was known to the authorities as a suspect in a horrific 2015 assault on a national museum in the Tunisian capital. |
| The case is already reviving familiar questions of whether the German system is riddled with loopholes and problems that pose a risk to national security and whether Germany’s post-World War II structures are outmoded for 21st-century terrorist threats. | The case is already reviving familiar questions of whether the German system is riddled with loopholes and problems that pose a risk to national security and whether Germany’s post-World War II structures are outmoded for 21st-century terrorist threats. |
| Like Anis Amri, the Tunisian suspected of killing 12 by plowing a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin last year, the latest Tunisian suspect, who was not identified, entered Germany as an asylum seeker. He then slipped through the fingers of the authorities while his deportation was thwarted by bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of documents, even after Tunisian authorities had alerted their German counterparts. | Like Anis Amri, the Tunisian suspected of killing 12 by plowing a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin last year, the latest Tunisian suspect, who was not identified, entered Germany as an asylum seeker. He then slipped through the fingers of the authorities while his deportation was thwarted by bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of documents, even after Tunisian authorities had alerted their German counterparts. |
| The good news this time was that the police, after thoroughly tracking their suspect, say they broke up a suspected plot in its early stages. | The good news this time was that the police, after thoroughly tracking their suspect, say they broke up a suspected plot in its early stages. |
| Yet that success did little to ease the pressures on Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces a stiff election challenge this year, for her decision to allow in nearly a million migrants and refugees in 2015. Even as Ms. Merkel’s government praised the police for the crackdown, prosecutors conceded that the Tunisian’s tale exposed persistent shortcomings. | Yet that success did little to ease the pressures on Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces a stiff election challenge this year, for her decision to allow in nearly a million migrants and refugees in 2015. Even as Ms. Merkel’s government praised the police for the crackdown, prosecutors conceded that the Tunisian’s tale exposed persistent shortcomings. |
| Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière presented two new laws on Wednesday designed to break down bureaucratic barriers in Germany’s federal system and better monitor people officially identified as a threat to public security. But the announcement was swamped by questions about the latest Tunisian suspect, who, like Mr. Amri, had long been on the radar of the authorities. | Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière presented two new laws on Wednesday designed to break down bureaucratic barriers in Germany’s federal system and better monitor people officially identified as a threat to public security. But the announcement was swamped by questions about the latest Tunisian suspect, who, like Mr. Amri, had long been on the radar of the authorities. |
| Mr. Amri was killed in a shootout with the Italian police days after the Berlin attack. The latest suspect had lived in Germany from 2003 to April 2013, the authorities said on Wednesday. What he was doing during that decade and why and how exactly he left or returned, federal officials admitted, they do not know. | Mr. Amri was killed in a shootout with the Italian police days after the Berlin attack. The latest suspect had lived in Germany from 2003 to April 2013, the authorities said on Wednesday. What he was doing during that decade and why and how exactly he left or returned, federal officials admitted, they do not know. |
| The Tunisian who was arrested on Wednesday returned in summer 2015, using an alias, Mr. de Maizière said, and apparently seeking asylum. | The Tunisian who was arrested on Wednesday returned in summer 2015, using an alias, Mr. de Maizière said, and apparently seeking asylum. |
| Among the many open mysteries was whether the Tunisian had again slipped across German borders in 2016. Frankfurt prosecutors cited Tunisian officials as saying the suspect not only had taken part in the 2015 museum attack, but also was linked to another, in early March 2016, on the Tunisian border town Ben Gardane. | Among the many open mysteries was whether the Tunisian had again slipped across German borders in 2016. Frankfurt prosecutors cited Tunisian officials as saying the suspect not only had taken part in the 2015 museum attack, but also was linked to another, in early March 2016, on the Tunisian border town Ben Gardane. |
| It was not clear if he was suspected of just planning that assault or actually taking part, in which case he would have again left Germany, and re-entered by August, when he was detained in Frankfurt and ordered to serve 43 days of an outstanding 2008 sentence for grievous bodily harm. | It was not clear if he was suspected of just planning that assault or actually taking part, in which case he would have again left Germany, and re-entered by August, when he was detained in Frankfurt and ordered to serve 43 days of an outstanding 2008 sentence for grievous bodily harm. |
| After that, from Sept. 27, the man was detained nearly 40 more days before what was supposed to be his deportation to Tunis, the Frankfurt prosecutors said. | After that, from Sept. 27, the man was detained nearly 40 more days before what was supposed to be his deportation to Tunis, the Frankfurt prosecutors said. |
| But, as with Mr. Amri, who slipped through the Germans’ fingers several times over two years, the Germans said they could not deport the latest suspect because the authorities in his country did not supply the necessary papers. | But, as with Mr. Amri, who slipped through the Germans’ fingers several times over two years, the Germans said they could not deport the latest suspect because the authorities in his country did not supply the necessary papers. |
| He was therefore released Nov. 4, said Alexander Badle, a spokesman for the Frankfurt state prosecutors. The suspect was watched around the clock until his arrest early Wednesday, Mr. Badle said, declining to comment on what led the authorities to order the giant raids in Frankfurt and eight surrounding cities and districts in the vast conurbation where the Rhine and Main Rivers meet. | He was therefore released Nov. 4, said Alexander Badle, a spokesman for the Frankfurt state prosecutors. The suspect was watched around the clock until his arrest early Wednesday, Mr. Badle said, declining to comment on what led the authorities to order the giant raids in Frankfurt and eight surrounding cities and districts in the vast conurbation where the Rhine and Main Rivers meet. |
| The Tunisian was the only person arrested in the raids, Mr. Badle said. He was held under a warrant issued Jan. 26 accusing him of supporting a foreign terrorist group. Investigation on that charge started in October, even before his release, according to the Frankfurt prosecutors’ office. | The Tunisian was the only person arrested in the raids, Mr. Badle said. He was held under a warrant issued Jan. 26 accusing him of supporting a foreign terrorist group. Investigation on that charge started in October, even before his release, according to the Frankfurt prosecutors’ office. |
| It was not clear if any of the remaining 15 suspects were held even briefly by the police. | It was not clear if any of the remaining 15 suspects were held even briefly by the police. |
| Mr. Badle said in a telephone interview that the main Tunisian suspect had no fixed address and had slept variously at the homes of friends and contacts apparently made in mosques. | Mr. Badle said in a telephone interview that the main Tunisian suspect had no fixed address and had slept variously at the homes of friends and contacts apparently made in mosques. |
| German authorities routinely lament that they cannot watch all those suspected of Islamic extremism, but they appear to have kept unusually tight 24/7 surveillance on the Tunisian, which presumably yielded the names or locations of other suspects across the Rhine-Main area, home to millions. | German authorities routinely lament that they cannot watch all those suspected of Islamic extremism, but they appear to have kept unusually tight 24/7 surveillance on the Tunisian, which presumably yielded the names or locations of other suspects across the Rhine-Main area, home to millions. |
| The suspects listed on Wednesday include a 17-year-old German Iraqi who in July tried to head for Dubai and from there to Syria for training in using weapons and explosives by unspecified terrorist groups, Mr. Badle said. | The suspects listed on Wednesday include a 17-year-old German Iraqi who in July tried to head for Dubai and from there to Syria for training in using weapons and explosives by unspecified terrorist groups, Mr. Badle said. |
| Another would-be recruit, identified only as a 16-year-old German Afghan, tried to leave Frankfurt last September and head to Dubai and then Afghanistan before going to Syria for training in weapons and explosives, the prosecutor said. | Another would-be recruit, identified only as a 16-year-old German Afghan, tried to leave Frankfurt last September and head to Dubai and then Afghanistan before going to Syria for training in weapons and explosives, the prosecutor said. |
| In Berlin, up to 250 police officers and three heavily armed antiterror units took part in the raid on a mosque in the Moabit district. Mr. Amri, the Christmas market assailant, had visited that mosque at least twice before his Dec. 19 attack, and recorded a video dedicating himself to the Islamic State on a nearby bridge. | In Berlin, up to 250 police officers and three heavily armed antiterror units took part in the raid on a mosque in the Moabit district. Mr. Amri, the Christmas market assailant, had visited that mosque at least twice before his Dec. 19 attack, and recorded a video dedicating himself to the Islamic State on a nearby bridge. |
| The police said three men who frequented the mosque were detained on the street. They were ages 21, 31 and 45 and were suspected of being about to travel to Syria and Iraq to train and fight with the Islamic State, the police said. Two hold Turkish citizenship, and the third is German, said Martin Steltner, a spokesman for the Berlin state prosecutors. | The police said three men who frequented the mosque were detained on the street. They were ages 21, 31 and 45 and were suspected of being about to travel to Syria and Iraq to train and fight with the Islamic State, the police said. Two hold Turkish citizenship, and the third is German, said Martin Steltner, a spokesman for the Berlin state prosecutors. |
| Ms. Merkel was far away in southwest Germany, receiving an award for showing charity toward the refugees from a group that honors a German Christian who took part in the unsuccessful plot to kill Hitler in 1944 and was executed by the Nazis in 1945. | Ms. Merkel was far away in southwest Germany, receiving an award for showing charity toward the refugees from a group that honors a German Christian who took part in the unsuccessful plot to kill Hitler in 1944 and was executed by the Nazis in 1945. |
| News media accounts from the ceremony said neither Ms. Merkel nor other speakers referred to the refugees. Instead, their speeches concentrated on what they called the new threat to Europe: populism and the danger of a fissuring European Union. | News media accounts from the ceremony said neither Ms. Merkel nor other speakers referred to the refugees. Instead, their speeches concentrated on what they called the new threat to Europe: populism and the danger of a fissuring European Union. |