A suspected Islamist from Russia’s volatile Chechen region has been detained in Germany on suspicion of plotting an attack using an explosive device.
German prosecutors said Wednesday that Magomed-Ali, 31, was apprehended in Berlin in connection with a 2017 election-day terror plot in France. He was alleged to have stored a “substantial” amount of explosives in October 2016, which the German authorities are trying to locate by carrying out the arrest.
“The suspect is under strong suspicion of having planned a serious act of violence against the state and a criminal explosion," the prosecutor was quoted as saying by the The Local English-language online publication on Wednesday.
It cited the prosecutor’s spokesperson as saying that no explosives had been found during searches of Magomed-Ali’s apartment in Berlin.
According to Germany’s Deutsche Welle broadcaster, Magomed-Ali was known to police but was not thought to pose an immediate threat.
Prosecutors said Magomed-Ali remained in country while his accomplice fled to France following a “preventive” police operation in November 2016. The accomplice, Clément, was arrested in April 2017.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday to be placed in pre-trial detention, prosecutors said.
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