German raids yield no link to Paris attacks: prosecutor

[December 03, 2015]  DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - Police found no evidence of "terrorist motives" or a link to the Paris attacks during raids in Germany on Thursday targeting people suspected of trying to acquire forged French passports, a spokesman for the public prosecutors' office in Berlin said.

The spokesman said the people whose homes were searched in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia were part of the "Islamist scene". But federal police said no arrests were made.

Around 80 police officers - including special forces - were involved in the raids which started at around 6 a.m. (0000 ET).

"We found no evidence of the suspects having terrorist motives," said the spokesman for the prosecutors.

"There is no connection with the attacks in Paris," he added, referring to the Nov. 13 attacks by militants tied to Islamic State which killed 130 people.

Authorities secured evidence such as storage devices and documents and these were now being evaluated, the spokesman said, declining to give further details.

(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Noah Barkin)

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