German soldier suspected of terrorism taken back into custody

An officer in the German Bundeswehr military suspected of far-right terrorism has been taken back into custody, a court official in Frankfurt said on Monday, reported dpa.

The man, identified as Franco A under German privacy laws, was arrested by a special police task force on Sunday, the spokesperson for the city's higher regional court said.

During an identity check in the city of Offenbach on Friday evening, authorities found objects on Franco A's person that could be considered as evidence, she added.

They considered him a flight risk so an arrest warrant was issued on Saturday evening.

The soldier has been on trial at the Frankfurt higher regional court since May last year on charges of preparing a serious act of violence against the state.

The federal prosecutor's office also accuses him of violating the weapons act, the war weapons control act and the explosives act, as well as theft and fraud.

Franco A was first arrested at Vienna Airport in February 2017 when he retrieved a pistol from a hiding place in a toilet there. What he intended to do with the weapon is not yet clear.

The accused also posed as a Syrian refugee, according to prosecutors, in order to raise suspicion after an attack on refugees and to undermine confidence in asylum policy. His motive has been described as "ethnic-nationalist."

Franco A has largely refuted the allegations against him, although he has confessed to owning a number of weapons, some of which he stored at his place of employment.

He has not yet given any information on the whereabouts of his weapons.