Dad of Berlin terror suspect Anis Amri says his son embraced jihad in Italian prison
Amri's siblings say they are in shock and disbelief after seeing his picture in the media as authorities offer a 100,000 euro reward to find him
THE father of Berlin terror attack suspect Anis Amri says he was was radicalised in a Italian prison after sneaking into Europe as a migrant.
The 24-year-old Tunisian is the subject of a huge manhunt, with authorities offering a €100,000 reward and combing through hospitals to track him down after Monday's horrific lorry attack.
Speaking to from Oueslatia, an impoverished village near the city of Kairouan, the suspect's father Mustapha Amri said his son had been in trouble with the law before he left for Italy.
"He left Tunisia March 2011 in what is called ‘al-Horqa’, a wave of illegal immigration shortly after the uprising," his father said.
"He dropped out of school and travelled to Italy; he was involved in a robbery and a case of burning down a school and camp.
"He spent four years in jail in Italy where he met extremist groups which attracted him."
Mustapha Amri says that he travelled to Germany with a group of refugees and told authorities he was a Syrian fleeing the war there.
He added: "“He called his siblings but never spoke to me, he never sent money, but he once sent a mobile phone and a box of chocolates with a Tunisian friend of his who lived in Italy."
The father said that Amri turned to drugs and alcohol to escape the poverty around him.
“He was like all the other kids in the village, he went to primary school near here, and continued his secondary school in Kairouan but he dropped out due to poverty,” he said.
“He worked in farm fields and sometimes with street vendors. He drank with his friends, which led to his arrest several times. His name also came up in many court cases regarding his use of cannabis, robbery and violence.”
He also said his son was a keen football fan who was not religious and had lots of girlfriends.
It comes amid revelations he was under surveillance for months by authorities who feared he was planning to carry out an attack.
Today his family said they "reject terrorism and terrorists" as they were being questioned by Tunisian anti-terrorism police, reports AFP.
"When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm in shock, and can't believe it's him who committed this crime," his brother Abdelkader Amri told AFP.
But "if he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists - we have no dealings with terrorists."
His sister Najoua said: "I was the first to see his picture and it came as a total shock. I can't believe my brother could do such a thing.
"He never made us feel there was anything wrong. We were in touch through Facebook and he was always smiling and cheerful," she added.
His brother Walid Anis, who works as a trucker, said: ";We have only had contact over Facebook - I have no mobile number for him."
The 30-year-old, who still lives in Kairouan where he grew up with the suspected mass killer, said his sibling left Tunisia for Italy in 2011 but "always wanted to go on to Germany to find work. Three or for years later he managed that."
Authorities said he wandered into Germany via the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, lived in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin.
His brother added: "He told me often that he couldn't find a flat in Germany and was sleeping here and there. But during our last contact two weeks ago he said everything was good with him.
"He comes from a family of nine children and always sent money back to us. I don't know where it came from.
"We live as a struggling family, we live a totally normal life.
"We are as shocked as everyone else in the world. We have no contact to Isis. I only learned my brother was being hunted over Facebook.
"I am affected the same as everyone else by this news."
But Bild questioned the veracity of this, claiming that the ring tone on his telephone when he was being interviewed was a tune from Isis supporter Fadl Shaker, who quit music to join the jihadist movement in 2011.
Asked if he supported the militant group he replied: "I have no idea."
German prosecutors named Amri as their main suspect in the attack claimed by the Islamic State group, which killed 12 people.
Amri's father revealed the 24-year-old was a violent drug-taking teenager and left home in Tunisia seven years go, reportedly fleeing to Italy where he spent four years in jail for burning down a migrant reception centre.
A Tunisian security official said Amri's parents, who live in the central town of Oueslatia, were being questioned.
Amri has four sisters and a brother, the source said, but it was unclear if anyone else was being interrogated.
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The security source said Amri had been arrested several times in Tunisia for alleged drug use.
He fled Tunisia to Italy after the 2011 revolution that overthrew longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and spent three years there before travelling on to Germany, the source said.
Contacted by AFP, Tunisia's interior and foreign ministries refused to comment on the case.
Upon naming Amri as the prime suspect, the federal prosecutor's office in Germany offered a reward of 100,000 euros ($104,000) for information leading to his arrest.
It also warned he "could be violent and armed".
Police are thought to be working on the premise that suspect Amri was injured in a life-or-death struggle with the lorry’s murdered Polish driver after the 24-year-old's blood was found in the cab.
They believe brave Lukasz Urban tried to wrestle the wheel from the terrorist's grasp as he ploughed the 40-tonne truck into innocent crowds at the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market.
One chilling theory suggests he could have posed as a victim of the attack in a bid to make his escape, with authorities trawling through hospitals hoping to find him.
He was arrested in August and found to be in possession of a fake Italian passport, after which his phone was monitored until he disappeared earlier this month.
The innocent Pakistani refugee – named locally as Naved B - was taken into custody after being singled out for a minor traffic offence a mile down the road from the atrocity.
Police conceded they have given the real killer an 18-hour head-start, they admitted: “We cried hurrah too quickly.”
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