Threat thwarted but terror danger endures: Merkel

Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Friday of an enduring terror threat despite the killing of the suspected perpetrator of the Berlin Christmas market attack.

“We can be relieved at the end of this week that the acute danger is over,” Ms Merkel told reporters, welcoming the news that the Tunisian suspect, Anis Amri, had been shot dead overnight by Italian police.

“However, the danger of terrorism in general endures, as it has for several years. We all know that,” she said. Amid fierce criticism that authorities let Amri, a rejected asylum seeker with known ties to the jihadist scene, slip through their  fingers, Merkel pledged a “comprehensive” analysis of what went wrong. “The Amri case raises questions — questions that are not only tied to this crime but also to the time before, since he came to Germany in July 2015” from Italy, she said.

“We will now intensively examine to what extent official procedures need to be changed.” Ms Merkel said she had ordered justice and interior ministers at the federal and state level to “analyse every aspect of the case and present their conclusions as soon as possible” so reforms, where needed, can be speedily implemented.

She said she spoke with the Tunisian President to discuss anti-terror efforts and inform him that Germany would be “signficantly accelerating” deportation of rejected asylum seekers.