Terror suspect taken to Germany

By Vision Reporter

Emrah Erdogan, a German national of Turkish origin who was arrested from Tanzania this week, has been sent to Germany to face criminal charges.

Isaya Mngulu, the acting Director of Criminal Investigations in Tanzania said on Thursday that Tanzanian security officials had alerted German officials of Emrah Erdogan’s imminent arrival.

Mngulu said Erdogan is a member of the al-Qaeda terrorist group and has fought in Afghanistan.

Political scientist Dirk Baehr and German media said Erdogan traveled to Waziristan in north-west Pakistan in early 2010 and joined a militant Islamist group.

He then went to Somalia in 2011 and was suspected of joining up with the Al Qaeda-linked militant group, al-Shabaab.

Tanzanian authorities said on Wednesday that the decision to extradite Erdogan, who was on the list of wanted terrorists, was made after detectives from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Germany interrogated him on Tuesday.

Mngulu on Wednesday told a news conference at the police headquarters that the suspect was apprehended in a queue at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar-es-Salaam.

“The suspect was taken in shortly after arriving in the country on Sunday. An alert for him was successful and security personnel immediately arrested him,” Mngulu said. The suspect did not resist arrest.

He said at the time of his arrest, Erdogan was travelling under the name of Abdulrahman Othman.

“He is under interrogation and will be flown to Germany, where he is wanted over terror-related activities,” said the officer.

Mngulu did not disclose where the suspect was being held or when he would be repatriated.

“The suspect is wanted in Germany where an arrest warrant is out for him. We have received a demand note to hand him in and we shall cooperate,” he explained.