Germany's leaders pay tribute to victims of the Solingen knife attack

BERLIN (AP) — German leaders paid tribute Sunday to the three people killed in the Aug. 23 knife attack by a suspected Islamic extremist, which has pushed immigration back to the top of the country's political agenda.

Eight people also were wounded in the attack at a “Festival of Diversity” marking the 650th anniversary of the city of Solingen in western Germany. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at a memorial event in a city theater that he was “relieved and thankful” that none of them is now in serious danger.

The 26-year-old Syrian suspect, who was arrested a day after the attack, was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year but reportedly disappeared for a time and avoided deportation.

In recent days, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has announced new restrictions on knives and new measures to ease deportations. On Friday, it deported Afghan nationals to their homeland for the first time since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, following up on a pledge made in June after a previous attack.

“It is a horrifying crime that brings us together today, carried out by a man who, according to everything we know, sought and and found protection here, and abused this protection so terribly,” Steinmeier said at the memorial, also attended by Scholz and other top officials. “That is also intolerable.”

Steinmeier said that “we are for good reason a country that takes in people who seek protection from political persecution and war.” He added that “we want to remain that country, but ultimately we can only do so if the number of those who are not entitled to this special protection does not overburden us.”

“We must make every effort to implement the entry rules that exist and the ones that are now being drawn up,” he said, adding that “this must be a priority in the coming years.”

The attack in Solingen also has reawakened painful memories of a racist firebomb attack on a Turkish family's home there in which five women and girls were killed in 1993. Four young Germans were later convicted.

“There was already one shocking Solingen attack, now a second,” Mayor Tim Kurzbach said. “Why always Solingen?”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a commemoration service for the victims of a knife attack that killed three people last week, in Solingen, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, Pool)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a commemoration service for the victims of a knife attack that killed three people last week, in Solingen, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, Pool)

The Mayor of Solingen Tim Kurzbach speaks during a commemoration service for the victims of a knife attack that killed three people last week, in Solingen, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, Pool)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a commemoration service for the victims of a knife attack that killed three people last week, in Solingen, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, Pool)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a commemoration service for the victims of a knife attack that killed three people last week, in Solingen, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. Words in back ground reads: Mourning together. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, Pool)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a commemoration service for the victims of a knife attack that killed three people last week, in Solingen, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, Pool)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.

The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.

The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a former navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.

The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”

“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.

The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, and carrying out human rights abuses.

Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain.

Tensions between Venezuela's government and the U.S. have increased as well following the election, whose result sparked protests within Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.

Venezuela's Electoral Council, which is closely aligned with the Maduro administration, said Maduro won the election with 52% of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.

Opposition activists, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation's voting machines. The tally sheets collected by the opposition were published online, and they indicate that Gonzalez won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Despite international condemnation over the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's supreme court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week after it became clear he would be arrested.

Maduro has dismissed requests from several countries, including the leftist governments of Colombia and Brazil, to provide tally sheets that prove he won the election. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed the U.S. is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.

The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government. In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges. According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab had also helped Maduro to avoid U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.

FILE - Socialist Party President Diosdado Cabello gives his weekly press conference, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, Aug. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)