Tunisian suspect’s fingerprints found in truck

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s interior minister has confirmed that fingerprints of the Tunisian man being sought over the Berlin truck attack have been found in the vehicle’s cab.

Thomas de Maiziere says the fingerprint discovery strengthens Germany’s case linking the Tunisian to Monday’s attack.

German authorities on Wednesday issued a wanted notice for Anis Amri, describing him as potentially violent and armed.

De Maiziere was speaking Thursday after visiting the Federal Criminal Police Office alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Meanwhile, the mother of Amri says he had shown no signs of radicalization and she’s questioning whether he really drove a truck through a holiday crowd or is just a scapegoat.

Speaking in the town of Oueslatia in central Tunisia, Nour El Houda Hassani says poverty drove her son to steal and to travel illegally to Europe.

She says Amri spent time in an Italian prison and Switzerland before reaching Germany, where he is now the top suspect in a truck rampage Monday that killed 12 people.

His mother told The Associated Press on Thursday: “I want the truth to be revealed about my son. If he is the perpetrator of the attack, let him assume his responsibilities and I’ll renounce him before God. If he didn’t do anything, I want my son’s rights to be restored.”

She says Tunisian police took away her telephone Wednesday and are studying her communications with her son.

She said: “When he talked he was normal. There was no sign of radicalization.”