Suspicion of explosives

RAF case: Third person apparently arrested

The police used this picture to search for Daniela Klette.(Bild: AFP/STATE OFFICE OF CRIMNIAL INVESTIGATIONS LOWER SAXONY)

RAF terrorist Daniela Klette lived undisturbed in an apartment in Berlin for more than 20 years before she was arrested on Tuesday. During an investigation of her home by the police, suspected explosives were apparently discovered - the entire apartment building in the Kreuzberg district had to be evacuated as a result. 

"The house has been evacuated. An object suspected of containing explosives has been found," a police spokeswoman told Bild. Specialists were called in to investigate the discovery. The fire department was also called in to assist. 

Meanwhile, the neighbors of the former RAF terrorist had to leave the building. Pictures show some of them leaving the house with their pets. The exact nature of the object was not disclosed - however, German media reported that it resembled a grenade when it was carried out of the house by the explosive ordnance disposal service. 

This post shows pictures of the police operation: 

For more than 30 years, there was no trace of three RAF terrorists who had gone into hiding - since Tuesday, the investigation has openly gone from strength to strength: After Klette and another person were arrested on Tuesday, another arrest followed on Wednesday: however, a connection to the "Red Army Faction" in the latest capture must first be verified, according to investigators.

A new manhunt led the executive to new leads in the decades-old case. Klette, who was living in Berlin under a false identity, was caught and identified using her fingerprints. The police are now also trying to catch Klette's colleagues Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, who have gone into hiding. 

Identity of the third suspect is being verified
The suspicion following the second arrest was not confirmed - the man has been released. "There is no doubt that this is not one of the two criminals still on the run," said the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office. However, as the "Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung" reported, there is another suspect in police custody. According to the newspaper, it is currently being investigated whether the arrested man is Garweg or Staub. 

The State Office of Criminal Investigation in Hanover did not want to confirm this third arrest for the time being and merely stated that this was being "examined internally".

The list of charges against the three wanted RAF terrorists is long: they are accused of attempted murder and a series of serious robberies. In the 1990s, they are accused of carrying out an explosives attack on the Weiterstadt prison, which was currently under construction. Klette is also accused of having previously been involved in an attempted bomb attack on a Deutsche Bank building in Eschborn. It remained an attempt because the detonator failed.