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Germany to Deport Two Native-Born Terror Suspects | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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German cops found this selection of material at the men’s houses. (Photo released by German Police)


Cologne – Germany is set to deport two terror suspects, a 27-year-old Algerian and a 22-year-old Nigerian, despite both being born in the country, the first case of its kind in the country’s history.

The Federal Administrative Court in the state of Lower Saxony agreed on Tuesday that their deportation should proceed, despite a bid to win a reprieve because they had not yet committed serious crimes.

The repatriation is part of a new packet of rules in the country against terrorism after the Berlin Christmas market attack by Tunisian Anis Amri on 19 December, which left 12 people dead and dozens injured.

Four days after the attack, Amri, 24, was shot dead by Italian police after travelling through several European countries before heading to Milan.

The rampage in Berlin was claimed by ISIS, which released a video in which Amri is shown pledging allegiance to the group’s chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Amiri’s deportation had been postponed due to the late arrival of his papers from the Tunisian authorities. German Interior Ministry believes that if the deportation was done within proper time, the attack might not have happened.

The state of Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Boris Pistorius said the men would be deported as soon as possible, and no later than mid-April.

“We have drawn our sharpest sword to combat concrete terror threats,” he stated adding that terrorists: “Will face the full force of the law regardless of whether they were born here or not.”

Pistorius stressed that through the ruling, Germany is sending a clear warning to all fanatics nationwide that it will not give them a “centimetre of space” to carry out their despicable plans.

Spokesperson for the region’s interior ministry admitted that it is the first time in Germany’s history that such a decision has been taken. He explained that all cases have been studied, each case separately, which mounted up the number of persons facing possible deportation to 50. He added that these people are described as “dangerous” – posing a threat to the security of the state.

The Algerian Sidi Moussa and the Nigerian Seirous Asisi appealed against being deported but they will be out of Germany within weeks. Their defense attorney said both haven’t committed any crime yet. They have failed to win temporary legal protection from deportation.

In the case of the Algerian, Germany says it has obtained assurances from his homeland he will not be tortured or have his human rights infringed in any way.

On February 09, police arrested the suspects in the city of Göttingen in a massive raid that involved 11 apartments and some 450 agents. The raid turned up multiple black ISIS flags and a range of weapons, including a machete to what looked to be replica flint-lock pistols.

However, police could not determine whether the suspects intended to use the firearm in a possible terror plot.

Investigators then declined to pursue criminal proceedings.

The men were known to authorities through their affiliation with part of the radical Islamist scene in the city and links to Iraqi Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah, dubbed Abo Walaa. Police had previously arrested Abo Walaa and four of his accomplices: Serbian-German Bubba S., German Mahmoud W., Cameroonian Ahmed F., and Turkish Hasan S.

They were all sentenced in August 2016 for supporting terrorist organization and recruiting members for ISIS.

In a related matter, an ISIS translator and editor was on trial in Dusseldorf for crimes of translating and editing several texting into German and English. The texts were published in ISIS’ electronic magazine: Dabiq. The translator admitted to the offenses at the beginning of the trial.

He was arrested on July 14, 2016 and had been in custody since then.