GERMAN authorities have launched a Europe-wide manhunt for a Tunisian man with ties to Islamic extremists who has been identified as a suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack.
The man is being sought in Germany and across Europe's border-free travel zone, interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said after briefing parliament's domestic affairs committee.
"This is a suspect, not necessarily the perpetrator. We are still investigating in all directions," he said.
Twelve people were killed and 48 others injured when a truck ploughed into a popular Berlin market Monday evening. Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility.
Mr de Maiziere would not give details on the new suspect, but committee members said he is believed to be Tunisian.
The man is in his early twenties and apparently has used various identities, Stephan Mayer, a senior parliamentarian with Germany's governing conservatives, said.
He said the man was considered part of the "Salafist-Islamist scene" by authorities and apparently had previously spent time in pre-deportation detention in Germany after his asylum application was rejected.
Germany's chief federal prosecutor told MPs "this Tunisian is a solid lead, his wallet was found in the cab of the truck, but that it's not clear that he was also the perpetrator", Burkhard Lischka of the Social Democrats, the junior governing party, said.
A Tunisian official said German investigators are trying to determine the role of the man, who he said was named Anis Amri.
The official said Tunisian authorities are requesting more information on the German probe into the suspect. He declined to comment further.
A Tunisian living in France was shot dead after carrying out a similar attack on July 14 Bastille Day revellers in the southern French city of Nice, killing 86 people.
Frank Tempel, an MP with Germany's opposition Left Party who attended Wednesday's briefing, said "the hypothesis that the trail in the truck was a false trail can't be dismissed out of hand".
Shortly after the Monday evening attack, police arrested a Pakistani man found about a mile from the market who matched witness descriptions of the truck's driver. However, they released him the next day, saying they did not have evidence tying him to the attack.
Police in Berlin said they had received more than 500 tips on the attack.
Christmas shoppers are out again in the streets in the German capital, and Berlin mayor Michael Mueller said it was "good to see that Berliners aren't being intimidated".
"I don't think there's any need to be afraid," he told ZDF television.
"The police presence has been significantly heightened and of course other measures taken to find the perpetrator quickly."
Mr Mueller argued that there are limits to increasing security, given the number of public spaces and events.
"It wouldn't be our free and open life any more if we escalated security measures so much that people worry about going anywhere, that there are strict entry checks," he said.
"We don't want that. It must be appropriate and goal-oriented."
