Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/765642
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2016 THE only suspect held after Mon- day's deadly lorry attack on a Ber- lin Christmas market has been re- leased, German prosecutors said. The man who was arrested after the truck attack has been released because of insufficient evidence. Meanwhile, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the truck attack in Berlin. Yesterday evening, the Islam- ist group's Amaq news agen- cy claimed the attacker is a "soldier of the Islamic State." The released man, named as Naved B, a 23-year-old asylum seeker from Pakistan, was arrested after he was seen leaving the scene of the attack which left 12 people dead and near- ly 50 injured. However, police expressed doubts about whether the man they had arrested was indeed the person re- sponsible for the attack. Michael Behrendt, a reporter with Die Welt, who first reported police doubts that they had the perpetra- tor, said one main reason the police were fairly certain early on they had not got the right man was the fact that he had no blood traces on him when he was apprehended immedi- ately after the attack, whereas the truck cab was full of blood. The release of Naved B from custody meaning the driver of the truck is still at large, with fears that police do not know who is respon- sible for the attack. Holger Münch, head of the fed- eral criminal police, said: "We need to work on the assumption that an armed perpetrator is still on the loose. As a result of this we are on high alert." But Münch admitted there is still a "question mark" over whether the attacker was an Islamist. Chief prosecutor Peter Frank said that investigators were assuming that it could have been a terrorist because of the number of people killed and similarities with an attack in Nice in July. But he stressed that nothing was proven Federal prosecutors said yester- day that Naved B, who arrived in Germany last year, denied involve- ment in the attack that killed 12 people and injured nearly 50 others. They noted that witnesses were able to follow the truck's driver from the scene but lost track of him. The man arrested matched wit- ness descriptions of the truck driv- er, but investigators haven't been able to prove he was in the lorry at the time of the attack. Under German law, prosecutors have until the end of the calendar day following an arrest to seek a formal arrest warrant keeping a suspect in custody. Earlier, German Chancellor An- gela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck attended a memorial ser- vice at the church next to the Christmas market. Describing the attack as a "ter- rorist act" Merkel said that it was "a very difficult day for Germany." "We have to assume that this was a terrorist attack," Merkel said, adding that it would be "particu- larly sickening" if the attacker was in fact a refugee. The nondenominational service at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church came hours after Merkel and other German political lead- ers laid white roses outside the church. The 19th-century church, a cen- terpiece of the former West Berlin, serves as a symbol of the destruc- tion of war. It was badly damaged in World War II bombing and the remains of its spire were left standing. Berlin's Lutheran bishop, Markus Droege, said: "Berlin lives with this wound, which was created by vio- lence and war. "This church is a memorial — it shows us what happens when peo- ple give free rein to their hatred, when they pursue the path of vio- lence to the end." News IN BOOK AT WWW.MADC.COM.MT OR BOOKINGS@MADC.COM.MT OR SMS 7777 6232 Berlin market attack suspect released suspect in custody. larly sickening" if the attacker was in World War II bombing and Police stand beside the truck that ran into the crowded Christmas market in Berlin Hate speech' has no place in society, leaders agree PAUL COCKS THE victims of the Monday at- tack on a Christmas market in Berlin, which left 12 dead and dozens injured, were remembered by the country's leaders yester- day evening at the launch of the Milied Flimkien activities in Val- letta. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Simon Bu- suttil said that while everyone was gathered to celebrate Christmas, they should not forget the people in Germany who were visiting a Christmas market when they fell victim to the actions of one man, fuelled by hatred and division. Muscat said that he, like Bu- suttil, President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and Archbishop Charles Scicluna, agreed that the people who incited hatred should be shunned and not be allowed to spread their message in our soci- ety. He said Malta would show – come Monday – just how people could forget their differences and come together once again in a celebration of generosity and soli- darity during the yearly telethon L-Istrina. Busuttil said that attacks like those on Monday should make people appreciate more the secu- rity they – and the country – en- joyed. Scicluna said that he, like the others, was often a target for ma- licious attacks but insisted that despite disagreement and differ- ing opinions, they could all agree that there was no space in society for such 'hate speeches'. Coleiro Preca, in a deviation from the other guests, chose not to deliver a speech but invited a representative of the Years 5 and 6 classes at the San Bastjan primary school in Qormi to read a message the students had presented her on Monday. She said she was sure the others would agree with the sentiment of the students' message, which called for a greater commitment by public figures to deliver social justice and to pave the way for fu- ture generations. The President, Prime Minister, leader of the Opposition and Archbishop remembered the victims of the truck attack in Berlin