Mosque where Berlin Christmas market murderer Anis Amri prayed to be SHUT DOWN
THE mosque where Berlin Christmas market mass murderer Anis Amri worshipped is to be shut down after it emerged he and other Islamic fundamentalists regularly prayed there.
Some 12 people died and more than 50 were injured in the attack
Some 12 people died and more than 50 were injured when the Tunisian ploughed a 20 tonne truck into crowds at the festive market.
Just hours before the massacre on December 19, Amri was captured on CCTV entering the mosque in the Moabit neighbourhood in Germany’s capital.
And another clip emerged of the 24-year-old there five days before the atrocity.
German Interior Secretary of Berlin, Torsten Akmann, confirmed the committee on internal affairs of the Berlin Parliament was under “high pressure” to shut down the mosque.
He said the application for the planned ban of the building and the mosque association, Fussilet 33, would be finalised by the end of the month.
The move follows a raid on the mosque last week by a special deployment commando of the Berlin police, where they arrested another Islamic fundamentalist.
The 24-year-old was detained after allegedly beating up his younger brother for listening to "Western" music.
The German authorities have been under pressure to close the mosque
Berlin’s public prosecutor’s office had issued a warrant for arrest on charges of GBH.
The mosque and Moabit is known to be a hotbed of fundamentalists who regularly visited the area, according to German authorities.
Terror suspect Anis Amri visits mosque after Berlin attack
This was a misperception
Police carried out raids on the mosque as far back as January 2015.
According to the Berlin Security and Intelligence Services, the chairman of Fussilet 33, named as Islet D, is allegedly responsible for the radicalisation of migrants, mostly from Turkey and the Caucasus.
Amri was captured on CCTV entering the mosque in the Moabit neighbourhood
Authorities have come under fire after it emerged Amri was known to the security services, but they had recently removed his named from a list of suspected Islamists.
Berlin senator Andreas Geisel admitted this was a mistake.
He said: "With today's knowledge, this was a misperception."
It emerged Amri was known to the security services
Despite Amri using several names and identities - which helped him cross Europe’s borders - Mr Akmann confirmed he had not been an informant.
Mr Akmann said: "Amri was not used by the police in Berlin or the Intelligence Services as an informant."