German investigators work through hundreds of tips on fugitive Red Army Faction suspects

BERLIN (AP) — German investigators said Wednesday they were working through hundreds of new tips on the whereabouts of two fugitive suspected ex-members of the left-wing militant Red Army Faction following the arrest last month of their former comrade after decades in hiding.

Daniela Klette, 65, was arrested on Feb. 26 in Berlin, where she had been living under a false identity. Police later found a cache of weapons at her apartment.

Klette is accused of participating in a string of robberies between 1999 and 2016, after the Red Army Faction was disbanded. She is suspected of robbery and attempted murder together with two other suspected ex-members of the Red Army Faction who remain on the run, Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg.

The Red Army Faction, which emerged from German student protests against the Vietnam War, killed 34 people and injured hundreds of others. The group launched a violent campaign against what members considered U.S. imperialism and capitalist oppression of workers. It declared itself disbanded in 1998.

Staub, 69, and Garweg, 55, have remained elusive since investigators tracked down Klette.

Investigators said in a statement that they now believe Garweg spent time at Klette’s apartment and that he himself has lived at various locations in Berlin for many years. They said he and Klette appear to have been in “very close contact.”

They said they also found evidence that they linked to Staub at the apartment. IDs and driving licenses found there showed that Klette had been using four aliases.

Police and prosecutors said they are sifting through some 760 new tips they received following Klette’s arrest.

The Associated Press