Explosives and bomb plot defused Melania: His words don’t represent the man I know
German investigators found several hundred grams of “highly volatile” explosives in an apartment they raided in the eastern city of Chemnitz as they sought a Syrian man suspected of planning a bombing attack. The suspect remained on the run but three contacts were detained and being questioned, police said.
Saxony police spokesman Tom Bernhardt told reporters the explosives were found by investigators who combed carefully through the apartment, which was raided midday.
“They were not just lying out on the kitchen table, they were relatively well hidden,” he said.
About 100 people were evacuated from the five-storey apartment building in Chemnitz as the bomb squad removed the explosives, which were not considered stable enough to move far. They were then destroyed in a controlled detonation, police said.
“It’s a highly volatile mixture,” Bernhardt said, adding that experts said it was considered more dangerous than TNT. He did not identify the type of explosive.
The apartment was raided after local authorities received a tip from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency that the suspect might be there and that he was thought to be planning a bombing attack. When police knocked down the door, however, no one was inside.
Saxony police put out an alert, identifying the suspect as 22-yearold Jaber Albakr from the Damascus area, and urged anyone with information of his whereabouts to contact authorities. They released a photo of a dark-haired man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and said he was last seen wearing similar clothes.
“We have to assume that he is dangerous,” Bernhardt said.
Two people who had “contacts” with Albakr were taken into custody near the Chemnitz train station and a third was found downtown, Bernhardt said, adding they were being questioned with the hope that they might help authorities find Albakr.
Authorities have not said where or when they think the suspected attack was going to take place. — AP LOS ANGELES: Donald Trump’s wife Melania released a statement, calling her husband’s remarks “unacceptable and offensive to me” but expressing hope that “people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world”.
Her statement comes as some major party figures have pulled their support or called on Trump to step down from the ticket.
“The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me,” Melania Trump said.
“This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world.” — Reuters