Possible breakthrough in neo-Nazi murder case

The lawyer of 32-year old suspect Carsten S., a former functionary of the far-right NPD party who is under arrest, confirmed that his client had confessed to providing the weapon used in nine murders. He said he gave the Ceska 83 pistol, complete with silencer and 50 rounds of ammunition, to one of the suspected murderers from a neo-Nazi gang in 1999.

Carsten S., whose last name has been withheld under the German media's privacy guidelines, was arrested in January in the western city of Düsseldorf. He has admitted belonging to a group of neo-Nazi militants in eastern Germany over ten years ago, but claimed he had since repented of his far-right views.

The weapon in question was used in nine murders committed by three members of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) group. They are suspected to be behind 10 unsolved murders since 2000, killing eight Turkish shopkeepers, a Greek man and a policewoman. They are also believed to have robbed several banks and carried out bomb explosions in Cologne.

Police only discovered the group in November 2011 when two of the group's members killed themselves as they were about to be arrested. A third member turned herself in and is currently in custody. She faces arson charges for blowing up their apartment, apparently to destroy evidence.

On Thursday Germany commemorated the victims of far-right extremism with a memorial service in Berlin and a nationwide moment of silence. Relatives of the victims deplored the way police had conducted the investigations.

In response to criticism of police failing to link the killings across several federal states, Germany opened a new national agency this month charged with tracking subversion by neo-Nazis.

The latest confession may speed up the pace of an inquiry that has been criticized for being too slow.

rg/mz (DAPD,dpa)