Detained sole suspect cleared over bus attack
Print Edition
GERMAN federal prosecutors said yesterday they had cleared the sole suspect in custody for a bomb attack against the Borussia Dortmund football team bus of involvement.
The announcement marked a setback for investigators, who described the three blasts late Tuesday as a “terrorist” act and said they are focusing on suspects in the “Islamist spectrum.”
“The investigation has not found evidence that the suspect took part in the attack,” the prosecutors office said in a brief statement.
It said it was nevertheless seeking an arrest warrant for a 26-year-old Iraqi national, identified only as Abdul Beset A., for alleged ties to the Islamic State group.
Investigators had zeroed in on two suspects believed to belong to the large jihadist scene in the Ruhr region, after three identical letters claiming responsibility for the attack were found at the scene. Only Abdul Beset A. was detained.
The letter demanded that Germany stop its Tornado reconnaissance missions in the international anti-IS coalition and close the US air base at Ramstein in western Germany.
The daily Bild newspaper said that police had placed Abdul Beset A. under surveillance for several months and believed, based on tapped telephone conversations, that he might be hiding explosives in his flat.
But a raid on his home on Wednesday drew a blank, the report said, adding that investigators were still pursuing leads in the extreme-right and far-left scenes.
Bild also quoted a security expert, Peter Neumann, raising doubts about an IS link to the letter found at the scene because some of its formulations were atypical for the group.
Even as the probe appeared to be in the preliminary stages, Dortmund officials criticized the decision to play its postponed Champions League match just 24 hours after the attack, with the perpetrator or perpetrators still at large.
The roadside blasts left Dortmund’s Spanish international Marc Bartra and a policeman injured, with the bombs detonating minutes after the team bus set off to a planned game against Monaco.
The match was held in Dortmund 24 hours later in a packed stadium with tight security.
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel angrily accused UEFA of treating the bomb attack as if a “beer can” had been thrown and claimed they were informed by text message that they would have to play the game.
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