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Photofit picture released by German police on Sept. 9, 2007 shows a unidentified man who is wanted by police in Frankfurt, central Germany. (AP)
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Last update - 16:52 14/09/2007
German police arrest suspect in stabbing of rabbi last week
By The Associated Press

Police arrested a German of Afghan origin in the stabbing of a rabbi in Frankfurt last week, prosecutors said Friday.

The 22-year-old man was arrested Thursday night and admitted to stabbing the rabbi, Zalman Gurevitch, Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement. The man is being investigated on suspicion of attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm.

Police have said an anti-Semitic insult preceded the stabbing September 7. Gurevitch has been recovering in a hospital.

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The attack prompted concern and condemnation from local politicians and Jewish groups.

According to the rabbi, the assailant said, "I'll kill you, you (expletive) Jew," prosecutors say.

However, prosecutors said the suspect - whose name they did not release - denies having either any intention of killing the rabbi and any anti-Semitic motive.

The Frankfurt-born German citizen, whose parents come from Afghanistan, maintains that he greeted the rabbi with the words "salaam aleikum," or peace upon you. In their statement, they said that there was then an exchange of words which ended in a physical confrontation.

The suspect said that he felt physically inferior to the rabbi and so reached for his knife, they added. The weapon had a 7.6-centimeter (3-inch) blade.

Prosecutors said they tracked down the suspect after being tipped off to an Internet forum that contained details of the incident.

Spokeswoman Doris Moeller-Scheu said prosecutors and police had no information to suggest that he had a radical Islamic background. She said the attack appeared to have been spontaneous rather than planned.



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  1.   Insane person. "Physically inferior to the.. 12:21  |  Karl 14/09/07
  2.   What a disappointment 13:17  |  Axel 14/09/07
  3.   very strange reporting 14:07  |  nobodysacred 14/09/07
  4.   @3 14:34  |  Philipp 14/09/07
  5.   1# 14:51  |  Teacher 14/09/07
  6.   To Axel 15:40  |  Avi (from Poland) 14/09/07
  7.   Teacher 15:50  |  Avrum 14/09/07
  8.   What a disappointment, really! 16:10  |  Jonathan S 14/09/07
  9.   Typo in Haaretz story 17:26  |  Chick 14/09/07
  10.   stabbing a rabbi in Germany 17:48  |  Edward 14/09/07
  11.   #10 Edward 18:16  |  Kraut 14/09/07
  12.   to #3 18:26  |  Marcelo 14/09/07
  13.   looks like those peacfull muslims are at it again 18:37  |  alan 14/09/07
  14.   # 10 Edward 19:06  |  Axel 14/09/07
  15.   Who cares... 19:11  |  Phil 14/09/07
  16.   Avi vs. Axel 19:35  |  Ben Aharon 14/09/07
  17.   # 8 Jonathan S. no. 1 20:19  |  Frank 14/09/07
  18.   # 8 Jonathan S. no. 2 20:22  |  Frank 14/09/07
  19.   Stabing a ribbi 20:38  |  Abu Yusuf 14/09/07
  20.   Stabing a rabbi 20:40  |  Abu Yusuf 14/09/07
  21.   ben aharon 20:42  |  Axel 14/09/07
  22.   Dear Avi and Ben Aharon 21:09  |  Lumax 14/09/07
  23.   # 8 the dear Jonathan 21:10  |  Bernd 14/09/07
  24.   abu yusuf 21:36  |  Axel 14/09/07
  25.   @ 7 it´s not a question of of being a Muslim or .. 21:58  |  Karl 14/09/07
  26.   Axel 22:12  |  Connie 14/09/07
  27.   No Phil (15) not a normal crime... 22:15  |  Karl 14/09/07
  28.   #24 22:19  |  Krauts 14/09/07
  29.   to Jonathan S.a question 22:34  |  Anubhav 14/09/07
  30.   Avrum (7), my brother! 22:42  |  Karl 14/09/07
  31.   An answer for Anubhav 23:31  |  Jonathan S 14/09/07
  32.   Connie 23:38  |  Axel 14/09/07
  33.   Germans unable to feel ashamed 23:57  |  Jonathan S 14/09/07
  34.   # 31 00:41  |  Shual 15/09/07
  35.   alan # 13 02:39  |  wh 15/09/07
  36.   Dear Jonathan, lack of culture and awareness.. 03:25  |  Karl 15/09/07
  37.   Karl 04:53  |  MR 15/09/07
  38.   Karl 04:59  |  MR 15/09/07
  39.   wh 35 05:28  |  alan 15/09/07
  40.   re: MR 05:36  |  Efox 15/09/07
  41.   re: Chick 05:52  |  Efox 15/09/07
  42.   re: Phil 05:56  |  Efox 15/09/07
  43.   re: Teacher 06:00  |  Efox 15/09/07
  44.   unashamed 09:04  |  sweis Melbourne 15/09/07
  45.   MR 09:28  |  Shual 15/09/07
  46.   Jonathan S on our inablility to feel ashamed 11:27  |  christoph 15/09/07
  47.   A clarification for Christoph 12:25  |  Jonathan S 15/09/07
  48.   Greetings from Quedlinburg 12:38  |  Jonathan S 15/09/07
  49.   Sweis making an important point 12:50  |  Jonathan S 15/09/07
  50.   Mutual Neurosis 13:01  |  Andreas 15/09/07
  51.   Gefereiter Axel grasping for straws and reviviving his 13:07  |  Absolute Sweden 15/09/07
  52.   German courts to decide over... 14:02  |  Franco 15/09/07
  53.   Jonathan S 14:52  |  christoph 15/09/07
  54.   #49 15:01  |  Krauts 15/09/07
  55.   Oh Jonathan! 15:31  |  Frank 15/09/07
  56.   Haaretz 16:21  |  MR 15/09/07
  57.   Ludin and the German apologists here 16:23  |  Jonathan S 15/09/07
  58.   Frank an Jonathan 16:29  |  MR 15/09/07
  59.   For Christoph 16:42  |  Jonathan S 15/09/07
  60.   Oh Frank! 16:44  |  Jonathan S 15/09/07
  61.   #Try to be fair, MR! 16:46  |  Frank 15/09/07
  62.   For Krauts 16:59  |  Jonathan S 15/09/07
  63.   #58 17:22  |  Shual 15/09/07
  64.   #63 18:35  |  krauts 15/09/07
  65.   Krauts 19:31  |  sweis Melbourne 15/09/07
  66.   Jonathan, hevanti. I may often sound more decisive than I am. 19:32  |  christoph 15/09/07
  67.   Jonathan`s theories 19:53  |  Alex 15/09/07
  68.   I`m Germand and I feel ashamed 20:09  |  Alex 15/09/07
  69.   to MR 20:27  |  Alex 15/09/07
  70.   #64 21:29  |  Shual 15/09/07
  71.   Alex 21:35  |  Anton 15/09/07
  72.   #65 21:41  |  Krauts 15/09/07
  73.   Jonathan S 21:58  |  Dee 15/09/07
  74.   # 66 christoph 23:15  |  Axel 15/09/07