A German convert to Islam who is wanted by police on suspicion of planning a suicide attack is probably not in Germany, federal police said Sunday. A three-week-long nationwide manhunt with wanted posters and online pictures has prompted 333 reports from the public about possible sightings of the man, Eric Breininger, 21, and his friend Houssain al-Malla, 23. They were last seen among Islamist radicals in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Breininger did not become a Muslim until he was nearly grown up. Confirming a report in the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, the BKA federal police headquarters in Wiesbaden, central Germany, said none of the tip-offs had produced hard evidence of Breininger being on German soil. His whereabouts were still unknown. Asked if Breininger still posed a danger to Germany, a BKA spokeswoman would only say, “The search with public help is continuing.” Both men face arrest on suspicion of membership of a terrorist group, which is a crime under German law. A video released earlier this year by Islamists showed Breininger with an AK-47 rifle on his shoulder, speaking of dying an Islamic martyr’s death.
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