Berlin market attacker's nephew arrested in Tunisia
2 other people believed to be in the same extremist network as Anis Amri also detained Saturday
Three alleged associates of the Berlin Christmas market attacker were arrested Saturday in Tunisia, while investigators in Europe sought to hunt down whether Anis Amri had logistical support to evade capture for days.
Tunisian fugitive Amri's fingerprints and wallet were found in a truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday night, killing 12 people and injuring 56 others. Despite an intense Europe-wide manhunt, Amri fled across Germany, into France and then into Italy, travelling at least part of the way by train, before being shot dead early Friday while on foot outside a deserted train station.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for the Berlin attack, but so far little is known about any possible logistical network backing the 24-year-old Tunisian.
Italian investigators were working to see if Amri had any connections in the Milan area. Italy was his port of entry into Europe in 2011, and he spent more than three years in Italian jails on Sicily. But an anti-terrorism official said there was no evidence that he had ever been in or around Milan before Friday's shootout.
In Tunisia, the Interior Ministry announced the arrest Friday of Amri's nephew and two others suspected of belonging to the same extremist network.
Communicated with nephew
The ministry said in a statement that Amri, through an alias, had sent his 18-year-old nephew Fedi some money through the post office to join him in Europe and join the Abou Walaa network. Amri claimed to be the network's emir.
It is unclear whether those suspects were in any position to help Amri flee Berlin.
The ministry said that during questioning, the nephew said he was in contact with Amri via the Telegram messaging app's encrypted communications to avoid detection.
He told police that Amri had recruited him to jihad and asked him to pledge allegiance to ISIS. The nephew recorded such a pledge and sent it to Amri via Telegram.
The Tunisian prosecutor's office ordered all three held in pretrial detention pending further investigation.
In Spain, police were investigating whether Amri was in contact with another possible extremist in Spain, on a tip from German authorities.
"We are studying all possible connections [between Amri] and our country, above all with one specific person," Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido told Spanish radio.
Italian connections
Italy has found itself at the centre of the Berlin attack investigation after the dramatic shootout that ended the manhunt. The deserted train station and the late hour prompted Italian officers to check the North African man's identity, officials said. Instead of pulling out an identity card, Amri produced a loaded .22-calibre gun, shooting a senior officer in the shoulder before a rookie officer killed him with a single shot to the chest.
Amri had arrived in the southern island of Lampedusa illegally in 2011, claiming to be a minor, and quickly landed in jail after setting fire to a migrant centre. After he was freed, efforts to deport him failed for bureaucratic reasons.
He reached Germany, where authorities were concerned enough to put him under covert surveillance for six months earlier this year, ending the operation in September. His request for asylum was refused by Germany in the summer, but the paperwork from Tunisia needed to deport him was delayed for months.
Investigators are looking into why Amri returned to Italy this week as he sought to elude police and whether he had any jihadi contacts in the country.
Authorities were also investigating the apparent coincidence that the truck from a Polish shipping company used in the Berlin attack had been loaded with machinery in the neighbouring Milan suburb of Cinisello Balsamo three days before the attack.
Milan Police Chief Antonio de Iesu acknowledged the connection was "suggestive."
But he told reporters there was no evidence yet of a link, emphasizing that the Polish truck driver who was the terrorist's first victim had spoken to his wife by phone from Berlin hours before the Monday night attack and did not appear to be under duress.
Victims brought home
On Saturday, Italy welcomed home one of the 12 victims, 31-year-old Fabrizia Di Lorenzo. She had lived and worked in Berlin and was out shopping for Christmas presents to bring to relatives in central Italy when the truck careened into the market.
A casket containing her body arrived at Rome's Ciampino airport, met by Italian President Sergio Mattarella. Her parents and brother received hugs and condolences before the casket was placed in a vehicle for the ride home.
The husband of a Czech woman killed in the Berlin attack, meanwhile, said he was relieved that Amri no longer posed a threat to the people of Europe.
Petr Cizmar said he was not after revenge "but I needed to know that he was removed from our society one way or another and could not cause further harm."
He spoke Saturday by phone from the family's home in Braunschweig, 230 kilometres west of Berlin.
Cizmar says his 34-year-old wife Nada had a logistics job in Berlin since May and stayed there during the week. He says she went to the market to celebrate Christmas with her colleagues.
The couple has a five-year-old son.
Tunisian protests
Prompted by the attack by Amri, about 200 people protested in the Tunisian capital against the return of Tunisian jihadis who have fought abroad.
Banners at the protest in front of the parliament in Tunis read "Close the doors to terrorism" and "No tolerance, no return." Protesters waved Tunisian flags and sang the national anthem.
Protester Faten Mejri said, "For us, they are not Tunisians. They are awful people."
Tunisia says at least 800 Tunisian jihadis are under surveillance since returning home after fighting in Syria, Iraq and Libya.
