This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37606947

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Jaber al-Bakr: How Germany caught elusive Syrian 'bomb-maker' Germany bomb threat: Jaber al-Bakr 'caught by three Syrians'
(about 5 hours later)
An anti-terror alert that gripped Germany ended with the capture of a Syrian suspect - but only after he had slipped away from elite commandos. Three Syrian refugees in Germany overpowered a bomb suspect who gave elite commandos the slip and sparked a two-day manhunt, police have revealed.
Syrian refugee Jaber al-Bakr, 22, is suspected of links with so-called Islamic State (IS). Police seized powerful explosives at the flat where he had been staying in Chemnitz, eastern Germany. Police believe Jaber al-Bakr, also a Syrian, was planning a bomb attack and had links to so-called Islamic State.
There were fears that Mr Bakr may have been targeting an airport in Berlin. They failed to arrest him on Saturday and found 1.5kg of explosives in his flat in the eastern city of Chemnitz.
"The methods and behaviour of the suspect suggest an IS context," said Saxony State Police chief Joerg Michaelis. He made his way south to Leipzig and sought help from fellow Syrians, who then handed him to police.
"It is reasonable to assume that an explosives belt was nearly ready, or had been prepared already," he said. Details of the role of the three Syrians emerged slowly as police feared they could be at risk of reprisal.
Late on Sunday night, anti-terror commandos from the SEK unit and a bomb squad rushed to a block of flats in Leipzig and captured Mr Bakr there at 00:42 (22:42 GMT). The suspect approached one of the Syrian refugees at Leipzig's main railway station and asked him if he could sleep at his apartment, German media report.
He was in the apartment of a fellow Syrian, in the city's Paunsdorf district. Police swooped on the flat and found Mr Bakr tied up on the floor. They had received a call from the other Syrian, who had heard about the manhunt, investigators said. Although aware of who he was, the man took the suspect back to his flat in the Paunsdorf area of north-eastern Leipzig where he and his flatmates overpowered him.
It is not clear how Mr Bakr was overpowered. Saxony police chief Joerg Michaelis said they had heard about the manhunt and tied him up while one of them knelt on him.
He had approached the other Syrian at Leipzig's main railway station and asked him if he could sleep at his apartment, German media report. One of the three then took a picture of the suspect on a mobile phone and travelled to a police station 20km (12 miles) away in the opposite end of the city.
Mr Bakr, registered as a Syrian refugee in June 2015, is suspected of plotting a major terrorist attack in Germany. Shortly after midnight on Sunday anti-terror commandos arrived at the flat and detained Jaber al-Bakr.
He had entered Germany illegally in February 2015. According to his Syrian passport, he was born in a Damascus suburb in January 1994. Why did he give police the slip?
The German news website Der Spiegel says German intelligence had reports last week that he might be planning such an attack, and they alerted police in the eastern state of Saxony. Intelligence officials had apparently been watching Jaber al-Bakr for several months. He arrived in Germany illegally in February 2015 and was given refugee status. According to his Syrian passport, he was born in a Damascus suburb in January 1994.
The intelligence service found out on Thursday that he had used the internet to get bomb-making instructions and had obtained explosives. German intelligence apparently had reports last week that he might be planning such an attack, and they alerted police in the eastern state of Saxony.
On Friday anti-terror police began watching a flat in a run-down residential area of Chemnitz, called Fritz Heckert. They were preparing to storm it when Mr Bakr managed to slip away at 07:04 on Saturday morning. They found out on Thursday that he had used the internet to get bomb-making instructions and had obtained explosives.
Defending their actions, police chief Michaelis said they "were not certain if that person was Bakr. On Friday, anti-terror police began watching a flat in a run-down residential area of Chemnitz called Fritz Heckert. They were preparing to storm it when Mr Bakr managed to slip away at 07:04 on Saturday.
Defending their actions, police chief Mr Michaelis said they "were not certain if that person was Bakr.
"He was told to stop, but he then ran off, police fired a warning shot, but they could not shoot at him because there were other people around."He was told to stop, but he then ran off, police fired a warning shot, but they could not shoot at him because there were other people around.
"At dawn the police were visible - so they had to get into the flat as soon as possible," he said. People were evacuated from neighbouring flats and police used explosives to get in quickly, he said."At dawn the police were visible - so they had to get into the flat as soon as possible," he said. People were evacuated from neighbouring flats and police used explosives to get in quickly, he said.
A witness in the block of flats, Stefan Breitsprecher, told the BBC: "I saw police officers with ladders... and then there was a loud bang, so heavy that the eighth floor was vibrating." Germany's two-day terror alert
In the Chemnitz apartment, police found at least 400g of "highly volatile" explosives. Later they detonated the explosives safely in the ground nearby. The alarm was raised immediately, with appeals over radio, TV and, importantly, police spread the message over the internet in English and Arabic.
Mr Michaelis said the substance appeared to be TATP, a home-made explosive used in the deadly jihadist attacks in Paris last year and Brussels in March. Little was confirmed initially, but there were unconfirmed reports that the suspect may have been targeting a Berlin airport.
During a nationwide manhunt, police arrested three suspects at Chemnitz railway station on Saturday. One of them remains in custody - the man who was renting the apartment. Police raided two more flats in Chemnitz and arrested more suspects, mounting extra security checks at railway stations and airports.
Extra security checks were mounted at railway stations and airports. But there were no sightings and the suspect made his way to Leipzig station, 85km (50 miles) north of Chemnitz.
The German broadcaster ARD says German authorities got their first tip-off about Mr Bakr from foreign intelligence sources about two weeks ago. After he was overpowered by the three other Syrians, a special commando unit and the bomb squad moved in.
The hunt led to Leipzig's Paunsdorf district, some 68km (42 miles) from Chemnitz, on Sunday night.
Germany's Tag24.de news website says the SEK commandos and bomb squad were supported by a helicopter, which used a searchlight to illuminate the area.
"Tired but overjoyed: we captured the terror suspect last night in Leipzig," the police said in a tweet."Tired but overjoyed: we captured the terror suspect last night in Leipzig," the police said in a tweet.
The so-called Islamic State said it had inspired two terror attacks in Bavaria, southern Germany, in July. How serious was the threat?
German officials identified the explosives found in Chemnitz as TATP, a home-made explosive used in the deadly jihadist attacks in Paris last year and in Brussels last March. It was, said police, "extremely dangerous".
"The methods and behaviour of the suspect suggest an IS context," said Saxony State Police chief Joerg Michaelis.
"It is reasonable to assume that an explosives belt was nearly ready, or had been prepared already," he said.
IS has claimed it inspired two terror attacks in Bavaria, southern Germany, in July.
A Syrian man wounded 15 people when he blew himself up at a music festival in the town of Ansbach. A few days earlier, a teenager attacked passengers on a train with an axe, wounding five people.A Syrian man wounded 15 people when he blew himself up at a music festival in the town of Ansbach. A few days earlier, a teenager attacked passengers on a train with an axe, wounding five people.
Police have warned that a small number of jihadists may have come into Germany with the influx of more than a million irregular migrants last year.
However, there are fears of a backlash from the far right and the anti-migration Alternative for Germany has surged in popularity, particularly in eastern areas such as Leipzig and Dresden.
"We're happy that not all foreigners are the same," an elderly couple in Leipzig told German news agency DPA.
Saxony Prime Minister Stanislaw Tillich praised the three Syrians who overpowered the suspect as "courageous and responsible". The trio have been described as witnesses and local police are still trying to check whether they already knew the man.