The German government said a young Iraqi man suspected in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Jewish schoolgirl in western Germany has been arrested in his homeland.

The Interior Ministry said 20-year-old Ali Bashar was arrested by Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq early Friday at the request of German police.

The body of the girl, named as Susanna Maria Feldman, who had been missing since May 22, was found Wednesday buried on the outskirts of the western German city of Wiesbaden.

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Bashar was a suspect in a string of previous offenses in the area, including a robbery at knifepoint. The dpa news agency reported that the victim knew Bashar’s brother.

He is believed to have arrived in Germany in October 2015, at the height of the migrant influx to Germany, and was appealing the rejection of his asylum application.

Police said a 13-year-old refugee boy went to a police station in Wiesbaden on Sunday and told officers the girl had been raped and killed, and named the Iraqi as a possible perpetrator.

Germany’s Central Council of Jews said Feldman was a member of the Jewish community in Mainz, near Wiesbaden. It called for a thorough investigation and warned in a statement against “premature conclusions.”

The Jewish community of Mainz reacted to the tragedy with shock and grief.

“I am as shocked, sad, and aghast about the violent death of Susanna as one can be,” Rabbi Aharon Ran Vernikovsky, who leads the Mainz Jewish community, told the Juedische Allgemeine weekly, adding that the community would do everything in its power to help and support her family.

The case has preoccupied German media for several days. News of the discovery of Feldman’s body’s near neighboring Wiesbaden made headlines nationwide, though most newspapers did not initially mention the fact that she was Jewish.

On Thursday afternoon, the Central Council of Jews in Germany confirmed that the victim was Jewish and expressed its condolences to her friends and family.

“A young life was ended in a gruesome fashion,” the statement read. “Our deepest sympathies are with family and friends. Susanna was a member of the Jewish Community Mainz.”

Previous killings by asylum-seekers in Germany have fanned tensions over the influx of more than a million migrants in 2015 and 2016, an issue that helped the far-right Alternative for Germany enter the German parliament last year.

The surge of migrants also sparked a rash of attacks on asylum-seekers’ homes, which has since tapered off.

In one case, two men were convicted Thursday in the southwestern city of Landau of setting fire to a home being built for asylum-seekers in the nearby town of Herxheim in 2015. They both received probation.

Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.</s>The German government says a young Iraqi man suspected in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl in western Germany has been arrested in his homeland.

The Interior Ministry said 20-year-old Ali Bashar was arrested by Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq early Friday at the request of German police.

The girl disappeared on May 22 and her body was found Wednesday in Wiesbaden. Authorities then said that Bashar had left with his family abruptly last week, traveling to northern Iraq via Turkey.

Bashar arrived in Germany in 2015, at the height of the influx of refugees and other migrants. He was appealing the rejection of his asylum application, and police said he was suspected in a string of previous offenses in the same area.</s>BAGHDAD/BERLIN - Iraqi police said on Saturday that a 20-year-old Iraqi man had admitted to the rape and murder of 14-year-old Susanna Feldman in Germany, where the case has stoked the immigration debate.



The Jewish teenager from Mainz near Frankfurt was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area in Wiesbaden, near a refugee center where the alleged attacker had lived, German police said.





An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a sexual and violent attack. Police said there was no evidence her religion had been a factor and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any antisemitic motive.German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Friday Kurdish security forces had taken the suspect, identified by German authorities as Ali Bashar, into custody on Friday."I ordered three officers to investigate the case. After seven hours, the officers were able to identify the location of the accused murderer and arrest him," local police chief Tariq Ahmed told Rudaw television.Ahmed said that the suspect had confessed to raping and killing the German teenager during interrogation by Kurdish security authorities. German Bild newspaper reported that Bashar and Feldman argued before he attacked and killed her.German newspaper Wiesbadener Kurier reported that Bashar was expected to be extradited to Germany on Saturday. A spokesman for Germany's federal police declined to comment on the report.Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to take in large numbers of asylum seekers during Europe's 2015 migrant crisis has stirred a political backlash, with many politicians calling for new rules to make it easier to deport immigrants.Bashar had been living in Germany as a refugee since 2015, German media have reported.Police, who set up a special call center for tips from the public and issued releases in Arabic and Turkish, told reporters on Thursday that Bashar had likely fled to Erbil in Iraq.</s>Iraq has extradited a 20-year-old Iraqi suspected of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl in Germany last month, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Saturday.

“I’m glad that the alleged perpetrator wanted by German authorities is back in Germany,” Seehofer said in a statement, adding that the investigation of the case could now be accelerated.

“For the girl’s family, that is only a small consolation, and my thoughts are with them during these difficult hours,” Seehofer said. “But for the state and our society, it is important that crimes are cleared up and suspects are brought to justice.”

Police in the Kurdistan region of Iraq said on Saturday the Iraqi suspect had admitted to the murder of 14-year-old Susanna Feldman in Germany, where the case has stoked the immigration debate.

The Jewish teenager from Mainz near Frankfurt was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area in Wiesbaden, near a refugee centre where the alleged attacker had lived, German police said.

An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a violent and sexual attack. Police said there was no evidence her religion had been a factor and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any anti-Semitic motive.

Kurdish security forces had taken the suspect, identified by German authorities as Ali Bashar, into custody on Friday after he fled from Germany last week.

“Officers in Zakho (in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region) called me and said they had located the suspect and would arrest him as soon as he comes to the city,” Dohuk city police chief Tariq Ahmed told Reuters.

“He had been staying at a hotel in Dohuk and after realising the police were after him left for Zakho to stay at a relative’s house. He was asleep there at night and was arrested in that house at 5:30 (a.m.),” Ahmed said.

He said the suspect had confessed to killing the German teenager during interrogation by Kurdish security authorities.

German media reported earlier that Bashar was expected to be extradited to Germany on Saturday evening and questioned by German investigators on Sunday.

German federal police declined to comment on the details emerging from the suspect’s arrest or on the report on the timing of extradition.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her dismay at the crime and said it should be a reminder to Germans of the need to do whatever possible for the integration of immigrants.

“The incredible suffering experienced by the family, the victim, affects everyone, including me,” she said on the sidelines of a G7 summit meeting in Canada.

“The cooperation in this regard between German and Kurdish security authorities worked well here … It is good that the alleged perpetrator was caught, that he probably also will be returning to Germany,” Merkel said.

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She added, “This is a reminder to all of us, first, to take the task of integration very seriously, to make our common values very clear, again and again. But also to punish any crime. We can only live together if we all stick to our laws.”

Merkel’s decision to take in large numbers of asylum seekers during Europe’s 2015 migrant crisis has stirred a political backlash, with many politicians calling for new rules to make it easier to deport immigrants.

Bashar had been living in Germany as a refugee since 2015, German media have reported.

German police set up a special call centre for tips from the public and issued releases in Arabic and Turkish. They said on Thursday that Bashar had likely fled to Erbil in the KRG.</s>DOHUK, Iraq/BERLIN (Reuters) - Police in the Kurdistan region of Iraq said on Saturday that a 20-year-old Iraqi man had admitted to the murder of 14-year-old Susanna Feldman in Germany, where the case has stoked the immigration debate.

The Jewish teenager from Mainz near Frankfurt was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area in Wiesbaden, near a refugee centre where the alleged attacker had lived, German police said.

An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a violent and sexual attack. Police said there was no evidence her religion had been a factor and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any anti-Semitic motive.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Friday Kurdish security forces had taken the suspect, identified by German authorities as Ali Bashar, into custody on Friday.

"Officers in Zakho (in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region) called me and said they had located the suspect and would arrest him as soon as he comes to the city," Dohuk city police chief Tariq Ahmed told Reuters.

"He had been staying at a hotel in Dohuk and after realising the police were after him left for Zakho to stay at a relative's house. He was asleep there at night and was arrested in that house at 5:30 (a.m.)," Ahmed said.

He said the suspect had confessed to killing the German teenager during interrogation by Kurdish security authorities.

"The girl was a friend of his. They went on a trip to the woods and there they consumed a lot of alcohol and drugs then got into a dispute and the girl tried to call the police," Ahmed said. "The suspect became afraid because she was under 18 and he knew if the police came it would be a major charge.

Ahmed added: "He tried to convince her not to call the police but she insisted so he choked her and buried her beneath the dirt."

German media reported earlier that Bashar was expected to be extradited to Germany on Saturday. German federal police declined to comment on the details emerging from the suspect's arrest or on the report on the timing of extradition.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her dismay at the crime and said it should be a reminder to Germans of the need to do whatever possible for the integration of immigrants.

"The incredible suffering experienced by the family, the victim, affects everyone, including me," she said on the sidelines of a G7 summit meeting in Canada.

"The cooperation in this regard between German and Kurdish security authorities worked well here ... It is good that the alleged perpetrator was caught, that he probably also will be returning to Germany," Merkel said.

She added, "This is a reminder to all of us, first, to take the task of integration very seriously, to make our common values very clear, again and again. But also to punish any crime. We can only live together if we all stick to our laws."

Merkel's decision to take in large numbers of asylum seekers during Europe's 2015 migrant crisis has stirred a political backlash, with many politicians calling for new rules to make it easier to deport immigrants.

Bashar had been living in Germany as a refugee since 2015, German media have reported.

German police set up a special call centre for tips from the public and issued releases in Arabic and Turkish. They said on Thursday that Bashar had likely fled to Erbil in the KRG.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.</s>DOHUK, Iraq/BERLIN, June 9 (Reuters) - Police in the Kurdistan region of Iraq said on Saturday that a 20-year-old Iraqi man had admitted to the murder of 14-year-old Susanna Feldman in Germany, where the case has stoked the immigration debate.

The Jewish teenager from Mainz near Frankfurt was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area in Wiesbaden, near a refugee centre where the alleged attacker had lived, German police said.

An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a violent and sexual attack. Police said there was no evidence her religion had been a factor and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any anti-Semitic motive.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Friday Kurdish security forces had taken the suspect, identified by German authorities as Ali Bashar, into custody on Friday.

"Officers in Zakho (in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region) called me and said they had located the suspect and would arrest him as soon as he comes to the city," Dohuk city police chief Tariq Ahmed told Reuters.

"He had been staying at a hotel in Dohuk and after realising the police were after him left for Zakho to stay at a relative's house. He was asleep there at night and was arrested in that house at 5:30 (a.m.)," Ahmed said.

He said the suspect had confessed to killing the German teenager during interrogation by Kurdish security authorities.

"The girl was a friend of his. They went on a trip to the woods and there they consumed a lot of alcohol and drugs then got into a dispute and the girl tried to call the police," Ahmed said. "The suspect became afraid because she was under 18 and he knew if the police came it would be a major charge.

Ahmed added: "He tried to convince her not to call the police but she insisted so he choked her and buried her beneath the dirt."

German newspaper Wiesbadener Kurier reported that Bashar was expected to be extradited to Germany on Saturday. A spokesman for Germany's federal police declined to comment on the report.

"We have strong ties with Germany, European countries and with Interpol regarding this case," Ahmed said. "With regard to extraditing him to Germany, this depends on what the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the German government agree on."

Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to take in large numbers of asylum seekers during Europe's 2015 migrant crisis has stirred a political backlash, with many politicians calling for new rules to make it easier to deport immigrants.

Bashar had been living in Germany as a refugee since 2015, German media have reported.

German police set up a special call centre for tips from the public and issued releases in Arabic and Turkish. They said on Thursday that Bashar had likely fled to Erbil in the KRG. (Reporting by Reuters Television in Dohuk, Iraq and Michael Nienaber in Berlin with additional reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein in Baghdad; editing by Mark Heinrich)</s>WIESBADEN, Germany - German officials on Thursday said an Iraqi man suspected of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl together with another migrant had likely fled the country and returned to Iraq.



The girl from Mainz, near Frankfurt, was reported missing on May 22 and was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area near train tracks, according to police.





The Central Council of Jews in Germany said the girl, identified only as Susanna, and her mother were members of the Jewish community in Mainz, but it cautioned against any premature conclusions about the motive behind the crime."Many of the details of the case are still unclear. We expect a rapid and comprehensive investigation from the prosecutorial authorities, and hard consequences for the perpetrator or perpetrators," the group said in a statement.Police said they were looking for 20-year-old Ali Bashar, who they believe fled to Erbil, Iraq, with his family only days ago. A second suspect, a 35-year-old Turkish citizen who was not named, was detained hours after the girl's body was found.A spokesman for the Wiesbaden police said there was no evidence at the moment that the girl's religion played a role in the crime.Wiesbaden senior public prosecutor Oliver Kuhn told reporters that both suspects "lived in refugee centers in Wiesbaden," a city on the Rhine river across from Mainz.Kuhn said investigators believed the girl had been the victim of "a collective rape and murder."Police were tipped to the location of the body and the identity of one of the suspected attackers by a 13-year-old migrant who came to the Wiesbaden police station on Sunday.</s>The Iraqi migrant suspected of having killed a 14-year-old girl is understood to have been able to flee to his own nation despite having previously been claiming asylum from persecution in his homeland.

Police found 14-year-old Susanna F. from Mainz on Wednesday near a railway line after she had been missing since May 22nd and announced that they believed the girl was killed as a result of violence. They have not ruled out possible sexual abuse, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.

Investigators noted that the prime suspect in the disappearance and suspected murder of the 14-year-old is 20-year-old Iraqi failed asylum seeker Ali Bashar. The young migrant had been living in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim and was in the process of appealing his negative asylum decision, and has recently disappeared according to people familiar with him.

The man is said to have flown back to Iraq several days prior to the discovery of the body to be with his family; however, officials believe he may have purposely fled the country to avoid arrest.

According to the Times of Israel, who report the victim in the case was of the Jewish faith, a 35-year-old Turkish citizen has already been arrested in connection with the case.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany released a statement on the suspected murder saying: “A young life was ended in a gruesome fashion. Our deepest sympathies are with family and friends. Susanna was a member of the Jewish Community Mainz.”

Police identified Bashar, who had come to Germany in 2015, as a suspect in a number of other prior crimes including robbery with a knife. Police said they believe he fled to the city of Erbil.

The murder comes after several other high-profile murders of young women and girls in Germany like 15-year-old Mia in Kandel and 19-year-old Maria Ladenburger in Freiburg who were both murdered by “underage” asylum seekers who turned out to be adults.

The phenomenon has not been limited to Germany, either, as 18-year-old Pamela Mastropietro in Italy was also suspected of being murdered by migrants from Nigeria earlier this year. Mastropietro was brutally murdered and then her body was dismembered and stuffed into suitcases that were left by the side of the road in the Italian commune of Pollenza.

The murders, along with the many migrant rape attacks and terror attacks across the continent following the migrant crisis, sparked the 120 decibels (#120db) movement, an activist group which protests the mass migration policies they say led to the murders and rapes of young women. The group is named after the sound intensity of rape alarms that can be bought in German stores.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com</s>BERLIN: Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq detained a 20-year-old Iraqi man on Friday on suspicion of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Jewish girl in Germany, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.

Seehofer told reporters the Kurdish security forces had taken him into custody early on Friday at the request of the German police, who identified him as Ali Bashar. He had been living in Germany as a refugee since 2015, German media said.

The case has galvanised Germany at a time when its decision to take in large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers during Europe's 2015 migrant crisis is already stirring a political backlash. Many politicians are calling for new rules to make it easier to deport immigrants thought to be violent.

The victim, Susanna Feldman, was Jewish, although police said there was no evidence her religion had been a factor in the crime, and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any anti-Semitic motive to her attacker.

"I am pleased to announce a successful manhunt in the case of Susanna F.," Seehofer told reporters after a meeting with state interior ministers.

The teenager, from the city of Mainz near Frankfurt, was reported missing on May 22. She was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area near train tracks in Wiesbaden on the opposite bank of the Rhine, near a refugee centre where the suspected attacker had lived, police said. An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a sexual and violent attack.

Police told reporters on Thursday that Bashar had likely fled with his family to Erbil, Iraq, several days ago. They said they had set up a special call centre for tips from the public, and had issued releases in Arabic and Turkish.

Joachim Stamp, integration minister in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, called on broadcaster ZDF for a recurring, quarterly migration summit of officials from the federal government, the 16 states and local officials.

Stamp said it was crucial to accelerate the asylum process and to expand the list of countries to which rejected asylum seekers could be deported.

The Iraqi suspect was already under investigation for a suspected robbery. He was appealing a December 2016 decision by German authorities to reject his asylum application.

Germany does not have a general extradition agreement with Iraq but must negotiate such moves on an individual basis, said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr. She declined to comment on the specific case of Bashar.</s>Iraqi police said on Saturday that a 20-year-old Iraqi man had admitted to the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Germany, Reuters reported. The Jewish teenager from Mainz near Frankfurt was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area in Wiesbaden, near a refugee center where the alleged attacker had lived, according to German police. An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a sexual and violent attack. There was no evidence her religion had been a factor. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Friday Kurdish security forces had taken the suspect, identified by German authorities as Ali Bashar, into custody on Friday. “The officers were able to identify the location of the accused murderer and arrest him,” local police chief Tariq Ahmed told Rudaw television. German newspaper Wiesbadener Kurier reported that Bashar was expected to be extradited to Germany on Saturday.
Ali Bashar, the main suspect in the murder and rape case of a 14-year-old German-Jewish girl in Wiesbaden, Germany is arrested by Kurdish forces in Northern Iraq.