Libyan terror suspect arrested in Berlin suburb

DW (English)

German prosecutors said they had arrested a Libyan man on suspicion of having links to the Islamic State group and planning to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin with firearms. Terrorism expert Raphael Bossong speaks with DW.

Transcript

00:00For some analysis, I'm joined in the studio by Raphael Bossong.

00:04He is a terrorism expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

00:08Raphael, welcome back to DW.

00:11So we've been hearing that the German authorities were able to prevent this particular attack

00:18on the Israeli embassy thanks to a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency.

00:24But without outside help, just how capable are German counter-terrorism forces in adequately

00:32protecting Israeli and also Jewish institutions in this country?

00:36Well, on the ground, there is a lot of presence, and I think the German state really invests

00:40very heavily in the physical security of those facilities.

00:44But yes, to prevent and to really get the early tip-off from mostly internet monitoring,

00:50that's something the German authorities are trying to do, but they have far less capabilities

00:55or even more competences that they are lacking.

00:57And this is the debate that we're having for many years that, of course, Germany also prizes

01:02itself of a very legal approach to things and that we don't do mass surveillance.

01:07But in these cases, of course, sometimes the mass surveillance is what it takes to sort

01:11of catch up on these chats with sort of foreign groups abroad and find some isolated person

01:17like this alleged attacker.

01:19Well, indeed, this alleged attacker was, as we've been hearing, a Libyan national who

01:24made a request for asylum back in 2023.

01:28We also heard from our reporter that this request was rejected.

01:31Raphael, are we going to hear more debate in Germany about immigration, about deporting

01:38failed asylum seekers?

01:40Well, obviously, there have been some reactions in this direction already, but, you know,

01:45not to be flippant, but I think it's hard to imagine more debate about that.

01:48I mean, Germany has been in the thralls of a debate on how to toughen up migration and

01:52deportation at least ever since the last actual terrorist attack at the end of August.

01:58And many things have been set into motion.

02:00Of course, politically, you know, one or the other issue hasn't been resolved yet.

02:04And this is specifically what the chancellor has picked up on.

02:07It's not actually deportation, but it's the so-called security package, which was meant

02:12to come alongside sort of tightening laws and immigration.

02:15So the government and actually the German parliament has already passed a package of

02:20laws to tighten security, to tighten laws about gun ownership and knife ownership, and

02:26also to empower the authorities to search the internet against biometric images.

02:32And just two days ago, the other part of the German parliament, so the Bundesrat, where

02:37the German states are assembled, the kind of German Senate, blocked that package.

02:41So the chancellor took this attack now to say it's time to pass this new security package.

02:47Probably it wouldn't have changed the dynamics of this particular instance, but I think this

02:51is where the debate is going, less on deportation, more on empowering the German security authorities.

02:58We also heard that this alleged plotter who wanted allegedly to attack the Israeli embassy

03:04had ties to the Islamic State.

03:07Just more broadly speaking, how much influence do groups like Islamic State have in Germany?

03:14Well, it's hard to tell.

03:16I mean, in this case, it seems like a case of somebody individually contacting the Islamic

03:21States and just being in chat online.

03:24We don't know more at this point in time.

03:27The Islamic State doesn't seem to have a real organization in Germany.

03:31There are other groups that are more sort of networked and actually may have more than

03:35just one person.

03:36And you know, not to sound too complacent, it is difficult to find these isolated actors,

03:42but it's also isolated actors that are often less capable than a proper cell that really

03:47planned for months and actually may have more sophisticated devices or plans to execute

03:52their attacks.

03:53So the IS in Germany itself seems still pretty remote and weak, but this doesn't mean that

03:59the IS is not a threat that has to be remembered, that is actually serious and may also be growing

04:04in various parts of the world.

04:06And so while we are concerned about many, many other security threats, and this is the

04:10real challenge that security authorities in Germany are worried about, that they have

04:14to worry about Russia, that they have to worry about right-wing extremists, and they also

04:18shouldn't forget about the old threat of Islamic terrorism.

04:22And for them, it's a lot to take at once.

04:24Raphael Bossong, terrorism expert at the German Institute for International Security Affairs,

04:29always great to hear your insights.

04:31Many thanks indeed.

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