Arrest over alleged Islamic State plot to attack Israeli embassy in Berlin | World News

A man suspected of having links to the Islamic State terrorist group and allegedly planning a gun attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin has been arrested.

Police and other security forces arrested the man on Saturday in the town of Bernau, just outside the German capital, and searched his home there, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The suspect is a Libyan national whom authorities identified only as Omar A.

“He intended to carry out a high-profile gun attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin,” the statement said.

As part of his planning, the statement added, “the accused exchanged information with an IS member during a messaging conversation.”

Another search was carried out at the home of a person considered as a witness and not as a suspect, specifies the press release from the prosecution.

“Our security authorities struck in time to thwart possible plans to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement.

“This shows that protecting Jewish and Israeli institutions in our country is vital and of the utmost importance to us.”

The suspect was due to appear on Sunday before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, the country’s highest court, the prosecution said.

The Bild newspaper was first to report the case, saying a heavily armed elite police unit had stormed the suspect’s home in Bernau.

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German authorities acted on information from a foreign intelligence agency, the newspaper said.

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“We are acting with the greatest vigilance and attention in the face of the strong threat posed by Islamist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli violence,” said Ms. Faeser.

Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor thanked German security authorities “for ensuring the security of our embassy.”