German prosecutors charge Russian for planning Israeli embassy attack, joining ISIS

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — German police are seen at a courthouse in Frankfurt, Germany, Nov. 13, 2019. (Reuters)

BERLIN  -  German prosecutors have charged a Russian national they suspect of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin and of trying to join militant organisation Islamic State, they said on Wednesday.

Prosecutors believe the accused, identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, obtained instructions from the Internet on how to make explosives but the plan failed as he could not get the components he needed. 

"From the beginning of February, he planned to carry out an attack in Germany, for example on the Israeli embassy in Berlin," said federal prosecutors in a statement.

He has been detained since his arrest at Berlin airport in February. Prosecutors suspect he was on the way to Pakistan for military training with IS and that he funded the trip by selling expensive smartphones that he obtained via signing up for mobile phone plans.

He is also accused of translating propaganda into Russian and Chechen for IS, said the statement.

Prosecutors charged him on August 7 with preparing and incitement to commit a serious act of violence endangering the state and, as a minor, of trying to join a terrorist group abroad.   

 (Reporting by Madeline ChambersEditing by Ludwig Burger // REUTERS)