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German Court Upholds Deportation of Jailed Tunisian Extremist

AFP file photo of German police in Berlin
AFP file photo of German police in Berlin
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German Court Upholds Deportation of Jailed Tunisian Extremist

AFP file photo of German police in Berlin
AFP file photo of German police in Berlin

A court in the German city of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia has upheld a verdict on the deportation of a Tunisian terrorist inmate to his home country.

The federal administrative court in Aachen rejected on Wednesday a request made by the lawyer of the Tunisian suspect to stop his deportation.

The 42-year-old has been living in Germany since 2000. He was sentenced to prison in 2016 on terrorism charges, including helping extremists join ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Wednesday’s verdict came amid controversy on the German authorities’ deportation of a Tunisian identified only as Ahmed A., to his native Tunisia despite a court verdict allowing him to stay in Germany a day before the deportation.

Ahmed A. is accused of being the bodyguard for then al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

But Tunisian authorities have said they will not deport him back to Germany. He will be tried according to the law on suspicion of terrorism outside the borders of the homeland.

German-Tunisian cooperation in terrorism-related cases is the result of a visit made by Tunisia’s Prime Minister Youssef Chahed to Berlin on February 2017 in the aftermath of the terrorist attack committed by Anis Amri, 24, in the city.

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Blinken, in Brussels, Pledges to Shore up Ukraine Support Ahead of Trump Transition

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) shake hands at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) shake hands at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
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Blinken, in Brussels, Pledges to Shore up Ukraine Support Ahead of Trump Transition

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) shake hands at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) shake hands at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 November 2024. (EPA)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured NATO on Wednesday that the Biden administration would bolster its support for Ukraine in the few months before Donald Trump's return as president and would try to strengthen the alliance in that time.

Meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels, Biden also said the deployment of North Korean troops to help Russia in the Ukraine war would get a "firm response".

President-elect Trump, who has questioned US military support for Ukraine, says he will quickly end Russia's war without saying how, raising concerns among U.S. allies he could try to force Kyiv to accept peace on Moscow's terms. Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.

Blinken said after meeting Rutte at the alliance’s headquarters they discussed ongoing support for Ukraine, where Russian forces have been making gains on the eastern front lines, and the work NATO must do strengthen its defense industrial base.

The outgoing US administration would "continue to shore up everything we're doing for Ukraine," he said.

"President Biden fully intends to drive through the tape and use every day to continue to do what we have done these last four years, which is strengthen this alliance," Blinken said.

The deployment of North Korean troops to support Russia in the conflict "demands and will get a firm response," he said.

Rutte said that "Russia has not won" in Ukraine, which it invaded in February 2022.

"Obviously we have to do more to make sure that Ukraine can stay in the fight and is able to roll back as much as possible the Russian onslaught and prevent (President Vladimir) Putin from being successful in Ukraine," he said.

Blinken is expected to meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha later, according to a State Department schedule.

He will also meet NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Christopher Cavoli, top EU officials and British foreign secretary David Lammy in Brussels on Wednesday.