04.03.2011, 15:32 5628

Frankfurt airport shooter linked to radical Islamism

The 21-year-old Kosovan suspect in the fatal shooting of two US airmen at Frankfurt airport Wednesday may have been motivated by radical Islamist beliefs, German authorities said, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Almaty. March 4. Kazakhstan Today - The 21-year-old Kosovan suspect in the fatal shooting of two US airmen at Frankfurt airport Wednesday may have been motivated by radical Islamist beliefs, German authorities said, Kazakhstan Today reports.

The man arrested for shooting dead two US servicemen at Frankfurt airport screamed "Allahu akhbar" before opening fire, German police have revealed, The Telegraph reported.

Witnesses heard 21-year-old Arif Uka make the cry "God is the greatest" in English as he launched Wednesday's attack on a busload of US military personnel, increasing the likelihood that it was motivated by radical Islamist beliefs.

"The suspect is accused of killing two U.S. military personnel and seriously injuring two others," said federal prosecutors, who handle terrorism cases, in a statement. "Given the circumstances, there is a suspicion that the act was motivated by Islamism."

Boris Rhein, interior minister for Hesse state, said that the suspect, an Albanian Muslim from Kosovo, had apparently been radicalised in the last few weeks and had acted alone.

Investigators also revealed that the suspect's Facebook page made clear his strong Islamic beliefs. The page contained alleged links to a jihadist war song and described non-Muslims as "miserable infidels".

The increasing possibility that the attack was a planned act of terrorism appears to have quashed an earlier theory that the shooting was the result of an argument.

Police said they believe that the pistol used in the attack jammed after a few shots thereby limiting the number of casualties. When arrested by police immediately after the attack the suspect was carrying a spare magazine and a knife.

On Wednesday evening police searched the manИs apartment in FrankfurtИs Sossenheim neighbourhood. He grew up in the city in a devout Muslim family, though he is believed to have been born in Kosovo. Investigators said it was too early to call the gunman a homegrown terrorist, but his case demonstrated how quickly individuals can be radicalised, Irish Times informed.

German television reported that the man was a member of a circle around an extremist Moroccan imam. He maintained a Facebook profile under the name Abu Reyyan which contained links to several extremist groups, police confirmed. Through his Facebook profile he promoted jihadist hymns on YouTube and linked to websites devoted to weapons and violent computer games.

Based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, the US service personnel were passing through Germany from UK bases for a tour of duty in Afghanistan, The Telegraph said.

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