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Man accused of Berlin bomb plot found dead in cell
A Syrian migrant suspected of planning a bomb attack on a Berlin airport has killed himself in his prison cell in Leipzig, Germany, according to officials
Jaber al-Bakr, 22, had been on hunger strike and was under round-the-clock surveillance since his arrest
A Syrian migrant suspected of planning a bomb attack on a Berlin airport has killed himself in police custody in Leipzig, the justice ministry for the state of Saxony said on Wednesday.
Saxony's state justice ministry said that suspect Jaber al-Bakr was found dead and that an investigation had been launched.
“On the evening of October 12, 2016, Jaber al-Bakr, who was suspected of planning a serious attack, took his life in the detention centre at Leipzig correctional hospital,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
Investigators believe Jaber al-Bakr, 22, who arrived in Germany last year, was close to staging an attack comparable to those that killed 130 people in Paris last November and 32 in Belgium in March.
He had been turned in to police on Monday by three Syrian refugees after being on the run for two days.
The ministry said it would give more details at a news conference in Dresden on Thursday at 10:00am.
Spiegel Online reported that al-Bakr had been under round-the-clock surveillance in police custody in Leipzig due to an acute risk of suicide and hunger strike. It was not yet clear how he had killed himself, Spiegel said.
