A failed Iraqi asylum seeker suspected of murdering a teenage Jewish girl in Germany was arrested in Iraq’s Kurdish region of Erbil overnight, German authorities said Friday, after his escape sparked outrage.
He was "arrested by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq at the request of German federal police", said German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
Ali Bashar, 20, is believed to have strangled 14-year-old Susanna Maria Feldman after sexually assaulting her.
Bashar arrived in Germany in 2015 along with his parents and five siblings.
He should have been deported after his request for asylum was rejected in December 2016, but he obtained a temporary residence permit pending his appeal.
The arrest came after an outcry in Germany as police hunting the fugitive admitted that Bashar had fled with his family on June 2.
The case puts renewed pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel's government over the decision to open Germany's borders at the height of Europe's refugee crisis in 2015, resulting in the arrival of more than a million asylum seekers over two years.
Far-right party AfD, which had railed against asylum seekers, jumped in to push its point.
"Susanna is a new victim of the egotistical and hypocritical welcoming policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel," charged AfD chief Alice Weidel, who called for the German leader's resignation.
The party has called a protest Saturday under the banner "That's enough" while counter-demonstrators plan to rally against racism on the same day.
Bashar had gotten into trouble with the German police on several occasions, including for alleged robbery, possession of an illegal switchblade and fights.
He was also among the suspects of the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl living in the same refugee shelter.
