Cypriot authorities on Friday arrested a suspected Hamas operative wanted in Germany, allegedly for providing supplies for attacks on Israeli or Jewish facilities, German prosecutors said Tuesday.
The Lebanon-born man, identified by the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office as Kamel M., was arrested upon landing in Larnaca from Lebanon, the Office’s statement said. On Sunday, police searched the man’s apartment in Berlin. The statement did not say whether anything was found during the search.
Germany and Cyprus are E.U. member states. Authorities within the bloc typically apprehend suspects for one another and extradite them speedily.
In August, the suspect sent 300 rounds of live ammunition to another man, Abed Al G., who is also facing terrorism charges since his arrest in January in Berlin, the statement said. A third suspect, Mohammad S., who is also being prosecuted separately, received the ammo.
“This action was intended to prepare for Hamas’s assassination attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany and Europe,” the statement said.
After his extradition to Germany, the suspect will be brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice, who may issue an arrest warrant and decide on the execution of the pre-trial detention order, the statement further said.
In November, German authorities arrested and uncovered a suspected Hamas terror cell with at least five members who had plotted attacks on Israeli or Jewish targets, German prosecutors said.
One of those suspects was identified as Lebanon-born Borhan El-K. He was apprehended while entering Germany from the Czech Republic, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
