German doctor with alleged ties to IS arrested

Authorities said they arrested a German doctor in Berlin on Thursday. He has been accused of financing a deadly suicide attack.

Details remain vague, but police said the man is accused of financially supporting a 24-year-old mentally disabled German who was recruited by the self-styled "Islamic State." The man, later identified as Abu Ibrahim al-Almani, traveled to Iraq and took part in an attack that killed himself and 12 Iraqi soldiers in the city of Beiji.

"Findings by investigators showed that the suicide bomber was mentally restricted and easily influenced and had therefore been assigned a carer," unnamed prosecutors in Karlsruhe told the AFP news agency. "Whether the attacker was deliberately singled out by the accused because of his mental deficiency is the subject of further investigations."

The May 18, 2014, attack was reportedly traced back to the doctor who allegedly helped finance and indoctrinate al-Almani, who was reportedly acting in the name of IS.

Prosecutors in Karlsruhe alleged that al-Almani was able to travel to Syria and Iraq in 2014 after the unnamed Mannheim doctor bought him a one-way ticket.

Police say they raided four apartments in Mannheim and Berlin and seized documents, external hard drives, a rifle scope and cell phones to be examined for evidence.

Thousands of foreigners - including European nationals - have travelled to Syria to join jihadhi groups battling the Syrian government. How to deal with returning fighters has been the subject of legal controversy in Germany.

jar/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP)