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New information on bomb plot

December 15, 2012

German police have identified a suspect in relation to the failed bombing attempt at a train station in Bonn, media have reported. He has not been named.

https://p.dw.com/p/173Do
Nordrhein-Westfalen/ Ein Fahndungsplakat der Polizei, das einen Tatverdaechtigen zeigt, der am Montag (10.12.12) am Bahnhof in Bonn eine Tasche mit einem verdaechtigen Gegenstand abgelegt haben soll, haengt am Mittwoch (12.12.12) in Bonn vor dem Hauptbahnhof. Die Polizei fahndet nach dem Bombenfund am Bonner Hauptbahnhof weiterhin nach einem Unbekannten. Ein 14-Jaehriger Schueler soll den Mann beim Ablegen der Tasche gesehen haben. Laut Polizei handelt es sich um einen dunkelhaeutigen Mann im Alter zwischen 30 und 35 Jahren. (zu dapd-Text) Foto: Sascha Schuermann/dapd
Image: dapd

An Islamist activist has been indentified as a suspect in the attempted bombing, the German public broadcaster WDR reported Saturday.

Quoting security sources, WDR reported that the police have said that the man comes from the town of Langenfeld, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Bonn.

On Monday a bag containing an explosive device was left on a platform at the main train station in Bonn. According to media accounts, authorities believe the detonator was activated, but failed to cause an explosion.

In the report, the man is described as being linked to the radical extremist group al Qaeda, but it is unclear if he was one of the persons who dropped the bomb off at the station or is only suspected in planning the attack.

The daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Saturday that police had identified a "dark-skinned man" who placed the bomb on the platform.

"The man comes from the radical Islamic scene in Bonn, which for several years been considered particularly militant," the newspaper reported.

It is unclear if he is the same man identified in the WDR report.

Police have published a video of two men present when the bomb was planted. Two men, who were not named, were arrested the following day, but were later released.

Public prosecutors say there is "reliable evidence" that the attackers had "connections to radical Islamic circles," and that the incident was "an attempted bomb attack by a terrorist organization of radical Islamist character."

dr/mkg (dpa, AFP, Reuters, dapd)