Angela Merkel selfie with Syrian refugee goes viral after he is wrongly named as Brussels bomber

Photos of the 19-year-old refugee's selfie went viral after it was claimed that he was one of the Brussels bombers and that the photo proved the attackers had pretended to be refugees

Anas Modamani took the photo when Angela Merkel visited the refugee camp in which he was living in Berlin. To his horror, it went viral this week after it was wrongly claimed that he was one of the men behind the Brussels Airport bomb (Anas Modamani)

A Syrian refugee has spoken of his distress as a selfie he took with Angela Merkel went viral after it was claimed he was one of the Brussels bombers.

Anas Modamani arrived in Germany in September 2015 after fleeing violence in Damascus. The 19-year-old was living in a refugee camp in Berlin when he heard that the German Chancellor was coming to visit and to talk to refugees. Mr Modamani took the opportunity to take a photo with Ms Merkel and posted it to social media, thinking little of the reception it might get, he told Deutsche Welle.

However, the photo has since resurfaced, after someone posted it online claiming that it showed Ms Merkel taking a photo with Najim Laachraoui, one of the suicide bombers who died in the attack on Brussels Airport on Tuesday. Social medias said there was a “striking likeness” between the two men and that it proved the terrorist had been “posing as a refugee” in Germany prior to the attack.

Mr Modamani’s friends told Deutsche Welle that the young refugee is horrified by the mistaken identity, calling the claims: “lies with absolutely no basis.” They said: “He lives in Berlin with his German family, he goes to school everyday, it’s not even possible for him to go to Brussels. Unfortunately, these lies on the internet spread very quickly with no truth to them.”

There are growing tensions in Germany regarding the country’s policy of welcoming refugees. Last year, more than a million refugees entered the country and more than 100,000 have thus far this year. Today new proposals were announced in a bid to force refugees to become better integrated in German society. The suggested measures include revoking settlement status from refugees who refuse to learn German or who prevent their female relatives from working.