SOLDIER CHARGED IN FAR-RIGHT PLOT AGAINST POLITICIANS

BERLIN A German military officer has been indicted on allegations he plotted to kill prominent political figures and blame the attack on refugees, prosecutors say, in a case that raised concerns about extremism in the country’s military.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday they charged the 28-year-old, identified only as 1st Lt. Franco Hans A. in line with German privacy rules, with planning an act of violence as well as violating weapons and explosives laws.

The soldier, stationed with a Franco-German brigade in Illkirch, just across the border from Kehl in France, also is charged with theft and fraud in the Dec. 4 indictment.

Prosecutors allege the suspect, whom they described as a “right-wing nationalist,” posed as a Syrian asylumseeker and planned to carry out his attack under that identity so that refugees would be blamed.

They say his targets included Justice Minister Heiko Maas and that he had stockpiled four firearms, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition and more than 50 explosive devices.

He was first arrested in February while going to retrieve a pistol he’d stashed in a Vienna airport bathroom. He was freed, but Austrian authorities informed Germany. When the soldier’s fingerprint matched the one he’d given when he registered as a refugee, it triggered the investigation.