Germany has deported a 20-year-old Iraqi to his home country after he was suspected of planning a terrorist attack over the Christmas period, the Interior Ministry in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt reported on Saturday.
The man, who was not identified by name, has been permanently banned from entering Germany. When he was deported was also not revealed.
He was arrested in Helmstedt in the neighbouring state of Lower Saxony on November 21, following a tip-off to police there to the effect that he had been planning a serious attack on a Christmas market.
He lived in Saxony-Anhalt and worked in Lower Saxony.
In 2016, a terrorist attack in which a truck was hijacked and driven into a large Christmas Market in central Berlin left 12 people dead and 56 injured.
The attacker, a Tunisian who had unsuccessfully applied for asylum, was shot dead by Italian police near Milan days later.
Since the attack, security has been stepped up at Christmas markets, which are held throughout Germany at this time of year.
