Libyan held in Germany over suspected Israel embassy plot 

FILE - Police cars stand in front of the Israeli embassy in Berlin, on Oct. 20, 2024.

A Libyan suspected of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin and links to the Islamic State group will appear before a judge on Sunday, German prosecutors said. The suspect, identified only as Omar A., was arrested on Saturday evening at his home in Bernau, just outside the German capital, the federal prosecutors' office said. Omar A. was accused of planning a "high-profile attack with firearms" on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, they said. As part of his preparations, Omar A. was suspected of having "exchanges with a member of IS in a messenger chat," said the prosecutors, who described him as a supporter of the group's ideology. In a message on X, Israel's ambassador to Berlin said, "Muslim anti-Semitism is no longer just hate rhetoric. It leads to and encourages terrorist activities worldwide." Israeli embassies were "on the front line of the diplomatic battlefield," ambassador Ron Prosor said. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said protecting Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany was "of the utmost importance to us." Law enforcement were acting with the "utmost vigilance" to prevent any suspected "Islamist, antisemitic and anti-Israel violence," Faeser said. Foreign tipoff Prosecutors said Omar A. would appear on Sunday before a judge who would decide if he should be remanded in custody. Authorities said they searched the 28-year-old's home in Bernau on Saturday. They also searched the property near Bonn of another person "not suspected" of involvement in the alleged plan. German daily Bild said the flat in the town of Sankt Augustin near Bonn belonged to the suspect's uncle, who was being treated as a witness. German authorities arrested Omar A. after a tipoff from a foreign intelligence agency, Bild said, adding that he had not been on any militant watchlist in Germany. Bild said the Libyan man was thought to have entered Germany in November 2022 and to have made a request for asylum the following January, which was rejected in September 2023. Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's retaliatory onslaught on Gaza, German authorities have increased vigilance about possible Islamist threats and antisemitism. In early September, Munich police shot dead a young Austrian man known for his links to radical Islamism after he opened fire at the Israeli Consulate and on police. In early October, there were explosions near the Israeli Embassy in Denmark and gunfire near its mission in Sweden.