Tunisian asylum seeker wanted in connection with Christmas market attack was arrested THREE times and let go

A Tunisian asylum seeker wanted in connection with the Berlin Christmas market attack in which 12 people died was arrested THREE times this year by police – but was released.

He was held on three occasions over suspicions that he was planning to carry out a terror attack. But, even though he was a known ISIS supporter who had received weapons training abroad, German officials let Anis Amri slip through the net.

Understood to be connected to the same terror cell responsible for the devastating attack on tourists on a Tunisian beach last year, authorities have now offered a 100,000 reward for information which results in him being captured.

A Europe-wide manhunt has now been launched for Amri, over fears that he may have left the country. He had been in Germany since last year and police realised that he was the main suspect after finding his footwell of a truck which was turned into a weapon, ploughing into people shopping at a Christmas market in Berlin.

Armed and dangerous

Because police are aware that the suspect shot the original driver of the lorry, but have not found any gun, it is believed that he is armed and dangerous. He is also known to have used six different aliases of three different nationalities.

It has now been revealed that he had already faced questioning over fears he was planning a serious act of violence against the state. He had only been in Germany since summer last year and had been denied asylum after a hearing. That should have meant he was deported before the end of the year, but he was given toleration papers which allowed him to say on longer.

German officials are understood to have been in touch with their counterparts in Tunisia so that they could get a passport for him and deport him.