Vienna anti-terror chief Erich Zwettler suspended over security lapses after jihadist attack
- Gunman Kujtim Fejzulai had been in contact with people who had been on the radar of the German intelligence agencies
- Attacker had previously been jailed in Austria for a terror offence
The head of anti-terror operations in the Austrian capital Vienna was suspended on Friday as details emerged of further security lapses in the run up to this week’s Kujtim Fejzulai jihadist attack which left four people dead.
Erich Zwettler, the head of Vienna’s anti-terror agency, had “asked to be suspended from his functions”, Vienna police chief Gerhard Puerstl told a press conference, as further embarrassing revelations came to light of missed opportunities to prevent the bloodshed.
During Monday night’s rampage, the first major terror attack in decades in Austria, a 20-year-old man who had previously been jailed in Austria for a terror offence opened fire on passers-by with a Kalashnikov in central Vienna, causing shock and anger.
Zwettler’s position became untenable in the light of “obvious and intolerable” failures, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said, after revealing that gunman Kujtim Fejzulai had been in contact with people who had been on the radar of the German intelligence agencies.
A tip-off from German intelligence about these meetings had apparently not led to increased surveillance of Fejzulai, who at the time was following an Austrian deradicalisation programme having been released early from jail.