On Saturday, Tunisia’s authorities said it had arrested the nephew of Anis Amri, the suspected Berlin truck attacker gunned down by Italian police, as Germany searched for the jihadist’s possible accomplices.
Tunisia’s interior ministry said the nephew and two other suspects, aged between 18 and 27, were detained on Friday and were members of a “terrorist cell” connected to Tunisian-born Amri.
It made no direct link between the trio and the Berlin assault on Monday, when Amri is believed to have hijacked a truck and used it to mow down people at a Christmas market, killing 12.
The 24-year-old went on the run and was the focus of a four-day manhunt before being shot dead by police in Milan after opening fire first.
The Berlin rampage was claimed by the Islamic State group, which released a video on Friday in which Amri is shown pledging allegiance to IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The Tunisian interior ministry said in a statement that Amri had sent money to his nephew so he could join him in Germany, and had allegedly urged him “to pledge allegiance to Daesh (IS)”.
The unnamed nephew also claimed his uncle was the leader of a jihadist group based in Germany, known as the Abu al-Walaa brigade, it added.
The arrests come as German authorities probe whether Amri had help before or after the attack. Hundreds of investigators are set to work on the case throughout the holiday season.
“It is very important for us to determine whether there was a network of accomplices… in the preparation or the execution of the attack, or the flight of the suspect,” federal prosecutor Peter Frank said Friday.
AFP
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")