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Europe

Germany: Syrian bomb suspect had security check last year

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Local resident Hans-Christian Trepte talks with journalists in Leipzig, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, after the 22-years-old Jaber Albakr was arrested in the eastern city of Leipzig, following a nearly two-day manhunt after explosives have been found in his apartment on Saturday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) (The Associated Press)

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    Local resident Maria Haubold talks with journalists in Leipzig, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, after the 22-years-old Jaber Albakr was arrested in the eastern city of Leipzig, following a nearly two-day manhunt after explosives have been found in his apartment on Saturday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) (The Associated Press)

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    Armin Hoffmann, a retired civil servant visiting his son in Leipzig, talks with journalists in Leipzig, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, after the 22-years-old Jaber Albakr was arrested in the eastern city of Leipzig, following a nearly two-day manhunt after explosives have been found in his apartment on Saturday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) (The Associated Press)

BERLIN – Germany's interior minister says the Syrian man arrested for a suspected Islamic extremist bomb plot underwent a security check last year, but it turned up nothing suspicious.

Jaber Albakr, a 22-year-old who had been granted asylum, was arrested Monday in Leipzig after three fellow Syrians tied him up and alerted police. He arrived in Germany early last year.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Wednesday that "there was a check against security authorities' data in 2015, but without any hits." He added "it's not clear when he was radicalized."

Authorities believe the man had links to the Islamic State group.

De Maiziere said the Syrian captors' "behavior deserves praise and recognition." He responded to calls for them to be fast-tracked for asylum by saying that they already have it.