Morocco 'warned Germany of Anis Amri terror threat weeks before Berlin attack'

Germany's BND domestic intelligence agency was warned of the threat posed by Anis Amri weeks before the Berlin terror attack, the Moroccan government has said.

Moroccan intelligence relayed warnings to Germany's federal intelligence service on 19 September and 11 October, the Moroccan government confirmed to Die Welt.

In a statement to the news network, press attache Fatima Fertat said that Moroccan intelligence had discussed with the BND Amri's "tendencies" and his "readiness to perpetrate a terrorist attack."

It follows a report from investigative news website Mond Afrique that German authorities had been warned of the danger posed by Amri. According to the report, Moroccan intelligence told Germany that Amri was in contact with two Islamic State (IS) extremists in Dortmund.

German authorities have not responded to the claims.

Amri was killed in a shootout with police in Milan in the early hours of 23 December, after reportedly fleeing Germany to France, from where he caught a train to Turin in Italy and then on to Milan.

It has emerged that the 24-year old had been in contact with an extremist network centred around Iraqi German-based preacher Abu Walaa, who was arrested in November accused of recruiting for IS.

In a video released by Isis in the wake of Amri's death, the Tunisian pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and said he wanted to take revenge for Muslims killed in western bombing campaigns.

*This article was ammended on 23/12 to remove the claim that Mond Afrique is a Moroccan publication.