Why Germany was unable to deport suspected Berlin attacker

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday squarely blamed the “slaughter” of at least nine people at a busy Christmas market in central Berlin on “Islamist terrorist”.

The confusion surrounding the lack of a suspect is “completely unprecedented”, one terrorism expert told CNN.

German media reported several locations were searched overnight, including a refugee home in Emmerich on the Dutch border.

“He’s my cousin, I’ve known him since I was a kid”.

“(I) can’t believe it’s him who committed this crime”, he told AFP news agency.

But “if he’s guilty, he deserves every condemnation”.

Abdelkader said the whole family was “in shock” and struggling to come to terms with the possibility his brother may be behind the massacre. “We reject terrorism and terrorists – we have no dealings with terrorists”.

Trump has offered nothing to back up his claim that Islamists were behind the attack.

A Pakistani asylum seeker was arrested a short time afterward – but on Tuesday police cast doubt on whether he was the truck’s driver, and said the “dangerous criminal” behind the attack may still be at large.

Officials in Germany have warned that Amri could be “violent and armed”.

“We are deeply saddened but we also fight for freedom”.

A spokesman for Germany’s chief federal prosecutor denied reports in Bild that four people who were in contact with Tunisian Anis Amri have been arrested.

Meanwhile, global authorities were still hunting 24-year-old Amri, who entered Europe via Italy in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

Anis A, who posed as Egyptian and Lebanese under various fake names, was reportedly classified as a terror threat and put under increased surveillance before a court in Ravensburg issued an order for his deportation in July.

Authorities publicly identified Amri on Wednesday, releasing pictures of him and offering a reward of up to 100,000 euros (about $104,000) for information on his whereabouts.

Police launched a raid on the camp at the disused airport at 4am on Tuesday following Monday evening’s terror attack.

The attack, which ISIS has since claimed responsibility for, has prompted officials with the Toronto Christmas Market to reevaluate their security.

The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has won support in the last two years as Ms Merkel’s own popularity has waned, said yesterday that Germany is no longer safe.