- Title: Austrian police confirm arrest of man suspected of planning imminent attack
- Date: 23rd January 2017
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (JANUARY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE STARTS (LEFT TO RIGHT) REPRESENTATIVES OF PROSECUTION, AUSTRIA'S GENERAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SECURITY, KONRAD KOGLER AS WELL AS DEPUTY POLICE PRESIDENT KARL MAHRER STANDING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIA'S GENERAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SECURITY, KONRAD KOGLER, SAYING: "On Friday, we have decided to make the arrest and after we arrested that person, we executed a search warrant on several houses in Vienna as well as in Lower Austria. There we have recovered several mobile phones and computers and have analysed them in the meantime." JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIA'S GENERAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SECURITY, KONRAD KOGLER, SAYING: "Therefore, we investigate whether there are any links with Austria or abroad. Based on the analysis of those interrogations, we noticed that there was a specific contact to Germany, informed the German security services immediately, and that led to the raids in North Rhine-Westphalia, to the arrest. And the mobile phones and computers seized are now in the process of being analysed as well, and the necessary investigational measures taken." NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAS (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIA'S GENERAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SECURITY, KONRAD KOGLER, SAYING (ON THE MAN ARRESTED IN AUSTRIA): "We know that he has stayed in Germany for a certain period of time. But it is more important for us to find out whether that was the only period (when he stayed there) or whether there was regular contact. And we do that in cooperation with the German security services." MEDIA END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 6th February 2017 15:08
- Keywords: Vienna Austria attack plan police Thomas Keiblinger
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA00160AXUTJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: AUDIO AS INCOMING
Austrian police confirmed on Monday (January 23) the arrest of a man suspected of planning imminent attack on Friday (January 20) and raids on Saturday (January 21) in Vienna and Lower Austria, as they continue to question a suspected Islamic extremist thought to have been planning an attack.
Raids led to the seizure of sensitive material such as "several mobile phones and computers" which are currently being analysed, said Austria's General Director of Public Security, Konrad Kogler, at a news conference.
Special forces arrested the 17-year-old with a migrant background in a Vienna apartment at around 1700 GMT, police said.
Austrian newspaper Krone said a group of radical Islamists of Albanian descent had planned an attack in Vienna between Jan. 15 and 30. It did not specify its sources for the report.
Austria's interior minister said Friday that the man was an Austrian citizen from the Albanian minority and that there were "certain indications" about an Islamic background "which we have to investigate."
Kogler said that during the investigation into his background and contacts they found a connection to Germany. Authorities were informed, which led to raids and the arrest in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
"We know that he has stayed in Germany for a certain period of time. But it is more important for us to find out whether that was the only period (when he stayed there) or whether there was regular contact. And we do that in cooperation with the German security services," he said.
The arrest comes a month after an attack at a Berlin Christmas market which killed 12 people, as well as attacks in France and Belgium raising fears in Europe.
Austria has so far been spared in the string of attacks by Islamist extremists in recent years suffered by its European neighbours. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
